Chapter 296 Cinemas are also money printing machines

After arranging all the important matters, Wang Yuanchao began to think and plan how to launder his share of the money.

Wang Yuanchao's share alone was worth three or five hundred thousand a month, and it was impossible to launder it through cigarettes, alcohol and tea, because the amount was too large. It was okay to deal in antiques once in a while, but if it happened too often, it would seem fishy.

Buying a house can only help the society to launder money. In fact, it won’t work if the amount is large. If you really want to investigate, you can find it out.

And why would Wang Yuanchao leave any handle for Zeng Qirong?
Take the money and then kill him? That's unnecessary. Because as long as he takes it, Zeng Qirong will definitely leave something behind to save his life. This is common sense.

Besides, Wang Yuanchao has a solution!
The best way was the film industry he originally planned to enter.

For example, investing in movies.

The society set up a film company A, which is the common producer and investor.

Then Company A invested 20 yuan in Wang Yuanchao's Company B to make movies.

Company A paid 20 yuan to Company B!
Company B, for example, might spend 5 or 10 yuan to make a movie. Then they would make a complicated account, breaking down the money into various links, such as labor, props, venue, scenery, transportation, accommodation, management fees, taxes, publicity, etc. They could spend 20 yuan without even keeping too much profit.

Then most of the money was distributed to brokerage companies, prop companies, and various channels through Company B. Anyway, they were all Wang Yuanchao's various C1C2C3... companies, and then they were legally transferred to the account designated by Wang Yuanchao.

As for where Company A gets its money, what does it have to do with Company B and Company C?

The client invested money to make a movie. Does Company B still need to ask where the money came from?
Money can’t talk!

If Company A invested a little more (after all, the sizes of different societies vary, and the amounts of tribute they pay vary), Company B might be able to make a high-quality movie, and then as soon as it was released in theaters, every show would be packed, no matter if it was a midnight show or an early morning show, as long as the theaters showed it, all the tickets would be sold out.

As for whether anyone goes to see the movie, or whether people are still watching halfway through, the cinema has no control over that, because they have legs on their bodies.

After the cinema pays the tax, the remaining box office revenue will be shared between the cinema, producer Company B, and production Company A in proportion.

Normally, by doing accounting, Company A can get a small amount of clean money. But don’t underestimate it because it is all laundered clean money!
From this perspective, movie theaters are also a great tool for money laundering.

If you control the theaters and production companies, the efficiency of money laundering will be comparable to that of a money printing machine.

That's basically the logic.

Historically, in the 1970s and 1980s, Hong Kong gangs came to invest in movies for the purpose of money laundering.

Their money came too quickly and in too much amount. If they didn't launder the money, they wouldn't be able to explain to the ICAC.

They are involved in pornography, gambling and drugs. For example, everyone knows about跛豪, who made hundreds of millions from selling powder, but he was too arrogant and didn't know how to restrain himself, so he was arrested.

Even if you can only launder half or even one-third legally, you will still make a fortune.

If you can only get 100 yuan out of 30 yuan, you feel like you are losing a lot. But if 1000 million becomes 300 million, it feels barely acceptable. If 1 million becomes 3000 million, you feel great.

This is all clean money!

So Wang Yuanchao needed a production company to make movies and a cinema chain to show movies.

As for the quality of the film, it is not something he needs to consider for now, and he does not have the energy to do so.

The majority of Hong Kong's filmmakers will work for him!
At that time, no one in Hong Kong had thought of laundering money through the film industry, and the Independent Commission Against Corruption would not be established for several more years, so there was no need.

Wang Yuanchao could have made arrangements in advance.

After finishing his thought, Wang Yuanchao first called He Wenzhao and Zeng Qirong.

“I want to buy the Xinsheng Theater at the junction of Peking Road and Hankou Road.

Affordable is fine, but the faster the better.”

This theater was originally called Jingxing Theater and was built in 1925 in a Western style. It was renovated in 59 and renamed Xinsheng Theater in 64.

The location is great, right in Tsim Sha Tsui.

If it is changed into a pure cinema, with more comfortable seats and higher ticket prices, three to five hundred seats will be more than enough.

Since the boss wants to buy this theater, how can the newly appointed He Wenzhao and the old man Zeng Qirong dare not prove their worth?

The boss said the price is affordable, but how can affordable prices demonstrate our value?
At the entrance of Xinsheng Theater, there were immediately swarms of gang members.

If anyone wanted to come and watch the show, they would politely ask them to leave. If they didn't know what was good to do, the sparse crowd would immediately gather around.

Because the theaters also paid protection fees in the past, it was not easy to do it casually, so we could only do it in this elegant way.

Dozens of big men are looking at you like this, do you still want to watch the show?
What kind of show are you watching? There are dozens of big men.
The gang members were divided into morning and evening shifts, surrounding the theater almost 24 hours a day.

The theater manager came out to say hello, but it didn't work at all.

The theater owner learned about the situation and rushed over, and was immediately followed by someone.

No matter where you go, there is a van following you blatantly. When you go home, the van will park downstairs of your building.

The theater owner knew very well that he was being targeted.

But he was totally confused.

The theater business was at a standstill and his family was being monitored and followed, so he had no choice but to pass on a message to the person who was following him, asking him to discuss everything and find a clear way out.

Someone from 14K immediately came to convey the message that they wanted to acquire the cinema.

In consideration of the fact that he had paid the protection fee on time in the past, the price was 20.

The theater owner has no right to refuse. He should just be thankful that these hyenas have set their sights on him and are willing to pay.

At first, he invested 20,000 pounds before he received it from John. He could still make more than 100 or 200,000 a year.

However, the land and housing prices have dropped significantly in recent years, so if they can offer 20, it is not a big loss. The businessman is quite clear.

From this we can see how cool and unrestrained Lui Lok was when he was the "underground emperor".

If you set your eyes on someone's property, they will give it to you at a discount or even give it away for free.

Otherwise, gang members have a hundred ways to make your business go bankrupt, or even cause you to suffer a sudden disaster and lose your family.

You go find the police?
Sorry, Lui Lok is the leader of the police!
Are you going to find John?

Sorry, John only cares about making money and doesn't care about the lives of cattle and horses.

It was after the incident in 67 that John and his people felt that they had to care about the cattle and horses, otherwise they would not be able to fleece them properly.

Fortunately, after Lui Lok established a complete set of order, the merchants paid protection fees as if they were paying taxes. As we all know, the tax rate of the Hong Kong authorities is very low.

It is always better to have order than to have no order.

Wang Yuanchao inherited this order relatively smoothly, but he also needs to maintain this order in the long run. At least he cannot be brought down by the Independent Commission Against Corruption!
When the Independent Commission Against Corruption is established, well, the protection fees from normal businesses will be collected in the form of property fees.

His security team is the prototype of a property management company, but now, the community organization is more useful.

The societies still have to continue paying protection fees to other abnormal places. If anyone dares not follow the rules, there will be many societies and subordinates who want to take over.

Thanks to 14K's diligence, the store was transferred to Wang Yuanchao in just three days.

Wang Yuanchao insisted on giving money, so how could he give others a reason to criticize him? He didn't need the money.

In the end, the theater transferred 15 yuan on the grounds of "poor management and loss of money to resell".

In order to have a relationship with the "underground president", he was willing to pay 14K, but since the other party refused to accept it, he had to say that the original price was 15.

Considering that 14K was fairly efficient, the "underground president" forgave its previous arrogance and held it against him.

Wang Yuanchao relaxed, and both He Wenzhao and Yan Xiong would naturally obey his orders and no longer deliberately make things difficult for 14K.

The reckless land grabbing before 14K has finally come to an end.

Therefore, the Xinsheng Cinema was renamed Starlight Cinema Tsim Sha Tsui Branch. The name made it clear that Wang Yuanchao was going to set up the Starlight Cinema Chain.

Shi Zhen, a fierce woman who had a life-and-death friendship with Wang Yuanchao, was called by Wang Yuanchao to be the person in charge of the theater line, leading a financial team and mainly responsible for financial work. She was not responsible for the specific management work below.

Currently, the cinema chain only has Starlight Cinema, which still retains the original management team of New Voice Cinema.

According to Wang Yuanchao's request, the cinema needs to undergo interior renovation and create a stepped viewing seat layout, which is a relatively large project.

Air conditioning should also be arranged. Electric fans are a bit too stuffy. Who wants hot air in summer?

The ticket price is a few cents higher now that air conditioning is installed. That’s not too much, right?

Not to mention how the movie is, just enjoying the air conditioning on a hot day is the ultimate enjoyment, isn’t it?
The original food in the theater needs to be replaced with salt and pepper peanuts, popcorn, cola soda and other snacks that are easy to carry and do not take up space. These are the most profitable areas for theaters, and it would be best if the theater could be self-sufficient.

In this way, the density of movie-watching is much higher than that of the theater, where people sit around tables and watch movies while eating and drinking. The box office of a movie is also much higher.

As for the drama?
Some are old movies that can be played repeatedly.

If he wasn't pressed for time, he would have wanted to tear down the theater and rebuild it to make a big mall, with a theater on top and a shopping mall on the bottom. Wouldn't that be great?

But the real estate cannot be sold at a high price right now, so it is better to store it and develop it slowly in the future.

Wang Yuanchao didn't want to get too ahead of himself.

After the matter was settled, Wang Yuanchao went to North Point to visit his son Wang Xiao.

Brothers Lou Xingrong and Lou Xingyao also came to their younger sister Lou Xiaoe's house to eat for free.

The mask factory established by Wang Yuanchao imported its raw materials in large quantities from Lou Xingrong’s textile factory, which was considered to be taking care of his elder brother-in-law’s business.

As for Lou Xingyao, he was a small salesman in HSBC. It was a great favor for his elder brother to introduce him to HSBC. The brother could only support him with some basic business and keep him from starving.

Wang Yuanchao came to discuss the loan with him, which was also a way to take care of his second uncle's performance.

We can’t rely on a few Chinese banks for everything, right?
Wang Yuanchao planned to mortgage Starlight Cinema #1 to the bank, get a loan to buy #2, then get another loan for #2, use the money to buy #3, and repeat the cycle in this way.

The main idea is to use the bank’s money to make money for yourself.

Wang Yuanchao used all his own money to buy land, buildings and stocks.

After buying a house, he can get a loan, then use the loan to buy another house, and then get another loan. He doesn't need much start-up capital at all, and he can continue to cycle through loans in this way. He just needs to pay the bank interest on time.

This round of Hong Kong property market will start to rise next year and will continue to rise until the stock market collapse in 73, when it will only fall back.

In other words, he still has several years to conquer cities and territories without worrying about not being able to pay the interest.

The land and houses he has purchased now cost around HK$6000 million, with an initial capital of less than HK$1000 million, most of which was financed by loans.

The most familiar Chinese bank only loaned less than 1000 million. Due to its limited scale, it could not lend any more.

Another 1000 million plus went to the Bank of East Asia, an asset of the Li family, one of the four largest Chinese families.

With industry and collateral, and thanks to Zhou Qibang's introduction, the Bank of East Asia also offered relatively favorable interest rates, but it still couldn't withstand such a large sum of money as Wang Yuanchao's.

In the end, about 3000 million went to Hang Seng Bank.

There is no other reason. Small and medium-sized banks can no longer take over his business.

(End of this chapter)