[News 1+1] Preventing illegal fund-raising： What’s ＂high＂ about the judiciary？
Cctv news(News 1+1): Determination of illegality, determination of crime amount and determination of unit crime. Today (January 30th), the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, the Supreme People’s Law and the Ministry of Public Security jointly issued a unified law enforcement and judicial standard for illegal fund-raising and crimes.
Yan Jie, Deputy Director of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate Legal Policy Research Office:There are twelve Opinions, aiming at the outstanding problems in the current law enforcement and justice of illegal fund-raising, which are mainly stipulated in four aspects: the application of substantive laws, litigation procedures, policy grasp and working mechanism.
In 2018, more than 10,000 cases were filed for investigation, up 22% year-on-year; The amount involved was about 300 billion yuan, up 115% year-on-year; The case spread to all provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities across the country, and the number of major cases increased significantly.
Yan Jie, Deputy Director of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate Legal Policy Research Office:The crime of illegal fund-raising is on the rise, and there are many large-scale fund-raising crimes. At the same time, it is more deceptive and confusing to constantly renovate the means. It has become normal to use the Internet to carry out such illegal fund-raising crimes.
News 1+1 pays attention to: preventing illegal fund-raising: what’s the "high opinion" of the judiciary?
When it comes to "money", it can’t be regarded as a "small" problem, especially when it involves the money of ordinary people and the amount is huge. Today, a set of data related to this is a bit surprising. Let’s take a look.
In 2018, public security organs nationwide filed more than 10,000 cases of illegal fund-raising crimes such as illegal absorption of public deposits and fund-raising fraud, up 22% year-on-year, involving about 300 billion yuan, up 115% year-on-year.
— — Source: Supreme Inspection Press Conference
From this set of data, it can be seen that in the field of suspected illegal fund-raising cases in 2018, both the scale of funds involved and the number of cases involved are not small, and in this field, it is not only the problem of large quantity and scale, but also some problems that are not clearly recognized by law, especially under the development of the Internet in recent years. Let’s take a look at all the questions.
Some questions about the legal definition of "illegal fund-raising"
Is P2P business an Internet financial innovation or illegal fund-raising?
Is it illegal to collect funds from relatives and friends?
How to identify the illegality of illegal fund-raising?
… …
Faced with these questions, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate held a press conference this morning (January 30). At this meeting, the "Opinions on Several Issues Concerning Handling Criminal Cases of Illegal Fund-raising" (hereinafter referred to as "Opinions") was released, and the "Opinions" issued this time were all kinds of vague areas for the identification of illegal fund-raising cases before solving them. Has the definition of law become clearer since then? In the face of rising data, how to make good use of the weapon of law? Let’s look at the content of this opinion first.
[1] The Supreme People’s Procuratorate announced the new situation of illegal fund-raising crimes. Is the legal determination of illegal fund-raising cases clear?
On the morning of January 30th, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate held a meeting with the theme of "Punishing the crime of illegal fund-raising according to law and guarding the people ‘ Money bag ’ " The "Opinions on Handling Criminal Cases of Illegal Fund-raising" jointly drafted by the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, the Supreme Law and the Ministry of Public Security was officially released.
The Opinions consists of twelve articles, which are mainly stipulated in four aspects: the application of substantive laws, litigation procedures, policy grasp and working mechanism.
Yan Jie, Deputy Director of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate Legal Policy Research Office:In the trial of substantive law, firstly, the basis for determining the illegality of illegal fund-raising is clarified. We believe that the case-handling organ should determine the illegality based on the national financial management laws and regulations. If the national financial management laws and regulations only stipulate in principle, it can refer to the departmental rules formulated by the administrative departments such as the Central Bank China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission and the China Securities Regulatory Commission in accordance with the national financial management laws and regulations, or the relevant national financial management regulations and implementation rules, and the provisions of normative documents.
In 2018, there were more than 10,000 cases of illegal fund-raising such as illegal absorption of public deposits and fund-raising fraud, which were investigated by public security organs nationwide, up 22% year-on-year. The amount involved was about 300 billion yuan, which also increased by 115% year-on-year. The spread of the crime involved all provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities across the country.
Wang Zhiguang, Deputy Director of the Economic Crime Investigation Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security:Especially in some major cases, the amount involved is billions or even billions of yuan, and the fund-raising funds are used by criminals to repay the principal and interest, operating costs and other arbitrary abuses, resulting in the final failure to return these fund-raising funds, which has caused particularly great losses to the masses.
Although the Supreme People’s Court issued explanations on some issues concerning the specific application of laws in the trial of criminal cases of illegal fund-raising in 2010, and Lianggao and the Ministry of Public Security jointly issued opinions on some issues concerning the trial of laws in handling criminal cases of illegal fund-raising in March 2014, it is urgent to make comprehensive responses and regulations on the key and difficult issues in handling criminal cases of illegal fund-raising in the face of the continuous high incidence of illegal fund-raising cases and the increasing number of large-scale illegal fund-raising cases.
Yan Jie, Deputy Director of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate Legal Policy Research Office:Among them, the determination of illegality, the determination of unit crime, the handling of subordinate units involved, the determination of crime amount, and the jurisdiction of cases are all problems that the local public security and judicial organs have concentrated on in handling illegal fund-raising cases in recent years. On the basis of repeated research and demonstration, we have listened to opinions from all sides and made corresponding provisions on these issues, which is conducive to unifying the judicial standards for law enforcement, strengthening the guidance for handling cases and improving the quality and efficiency of handling cases.
According to the provisions of the criminal law, all the financial resources illegally obtained by criminals should be recovered or ordered to make restitution, and the legal property of the defendant should be returned in time. To this end, the opinion also made very clear provisions on the recovery and disposal of the financial involved.
Jiang Yongyi, Vice President of the Third Court of the Supreme People’s Court Criminal Trial:Generally, the finance involved in the seizure, seizure and freezing will be returned to the fund-raising participants after the litigation ends, and all the insufficient finance involved will be returned according to the proportion of the fund-raising amount of the fund-raising participants. For the cross-regional illegal fund-raising criminal cases handled separately, the finance involved will be disposed according to the unified plan. Repaying the losses of fund-raising participants generally takes precedence over other civil debts and the execution of fines and confiscation of property.
At the press conference, it was also announced that after the concentrated outbreak of platform risks in peer-to-peer lending in June last year, local public security organs quickly organized and deployed more than 380 peer-to-peer lending platforms suspected of illegal fund-raising crimes, and arrested 62 suspects from 16 countries and regions.
Yan Jie, Deputy Director of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate Legal Policy Research Office:Judging from the cases of Internet-related financial crimes handled by the inspection authorities in recent years, we think that where is the main boundary to distinguish whether P2P network platform is a crime of financial innovation or illegal fund-raising? We think it mainly has the characteristics of illegal fund-raising. In the first opinion, we have clearly defined the basis for determining the illegality of illegal fund-raising.
With the development of economy and society, various new investment methods and wealth management products have emerged in an endless stream. The press conference also responded to how the public can identify the authenticity and prevent risks.
Yan Jie, Deputy Director of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate Legal Policy Research Office:Based on the information that our procuratorial organs, especially our judicial organs, have handled illegal fund-raising cases in recent years, we suggest that the public should also pay attention to establishing a healthy and rational concept of investment and financial management and consciously overcome this greedy psychology. As the saying goes, there is no free lunch in the world.
Illegal fund-raising is very harmful. On the one hand, the amount involved is generally large, on the other hand, it is basically the hard money of ordinary people. With the development of the Internet, there are many new situations in illegal fund-raising. At first glance, you seem to be innovating. When something happens, it may be illegal fund-raising. Faced with this new situation and means, the previous laws will definitely have unclear boundaries and unclear standards. So today’s document focuses on
In fact, just looking at the contents of these Opinions, because many of them are legal terms, it is impossible for ordinary people to understand them at once. In fact, what kind of problems are solved by the clarity of these bases and relevant standards? Next, we will connect with an expert, Wang Xin, a professor at Peking University Law School, who specializes in legal issues related to suspected illegal fund-raising cases.
[Video Connection] Professor Wang Xin of Peking University Law School
[Question]
1. Professor Wang, after the publication of the Opinions today, many discussions said that a big focus was to clarify the identification of the basis of "illegality". Why is this a key point and what problem does it solve?
2. A big background for us to issue this Opinion is the rise of P2P under the background of the Internet, especially when a large number of P2P problems occurred last year, involving a huge amount of money and a large number of people. Is this financial innovation or illegal? This Opinion is also clear. How helpful do you think such a clarification will be in dealing with P2P problems and cases in the future? Can it be understood that as long as a P2P platform sells its own financial products, it may be suspected of illegal fund-raising?
3. Also, in this Opinion, there is a special article on the requirements and restrictions on state employees. Why is such a content added?
4. From the legal professional point of view, what kind of problems do you think are most important to solve in this Opinion on the legal level of illegal fund-raising?
Well, relevant data also show that in 2018, the number of cases of suspected illegal fund-raising is increasing, especially in the field of Internet finance, and the challenges are even greater. How to deal with these challenges? We continue to look down.
[2] What are the illegal fund-raising in typical cases and how to govern them by law?
Wang Zhiguang, Deputy Director of the Economic Crime Investigation Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security:First, major cases are frequent. In 2018, public security organs across the country established more than 10,000 cases of illegal fund-raising, up 22% year-on-year; The amount involved was about 300 billion yuan, up 115% year-on-year, affecting all provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities across the country.
This is the first major feature and trend analyzed by the relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Public Security when answering a reporter’s question about the characteristics of illegal fund-raising cases today.
In addition, the other two characteristics are: involving a wide range of fields, such as peer-to-peer lending, investment and wealth management, old-age services and other emerging fields have become "hardest hit areas"; As well as the variation of techniques and strong deception.
In fact, five typical cases were released at the press conference today, almost all of which meet the above characteristics.
February 2, 2015: Huangjinjia Group in Langfang, Hebei Province is a national chain company involved in precious metal trading. They lured citizens to raise funds illegally on the grounds of buying and selling gold … …
This is the first typical case announced at today’s press conference, that is, the case of "Hebei Langfang Jinjia Group illegally absorbing public deposits", which was a sensation in 2015.
According to the case report, from March 2007 to September 2014, the company deceived the masses by operating a physical gold shop, buying gold or signing a financial agreement to promise high interest returns.
Mr. Wang (February 2, 2015): It is said that this interest is high. Where is it not saved? Ok, save it. I bought 210 thousand. If I get all the 210 thousand saved, I will pay a little more than 30 thousand interest this year.
Jinjia Group absorbed more than 15.3 billion yuan, and after deducting the gift, the actual income of the company was 15.1 billion yuan! Most of this money was used to buy land, vehicles, real estate, gold and silver, and to pay the expenses for the defendant Xiao Xue’s daughter to go abroad.
In December 2016, the court made a first-instance judgment and found that the defendant unit Jinjia Group was guilty of illegally absorbing public deposits and was fined 500,000 yuan. Defendant Xiao Xue was convicted of illegally absorbing public deposits, sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment and fined 200,000 yuan.
According to the press conference, the typical significance of this case is that if it is identified as a "unit crime", both the unit and its supervisor should be investigated for criminal responsibility.
Yan Jie, Deputy Director of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate Legal Policy Research Office:It stipulates the identification standards of crimes committed by illegal fund-raising units and crimes committed by natural persons, and the identification factors of whether the unit takes the implementation of illegal fund-raising crimes as its main activity.
Secondly, there is a typical case. During the period from 2013 to 2015, the defendant Li Guanghuai rented the depressed small hotels in various places through the fund-raising funds of investors, and then changed his face and hung the signboard of Wanzhong Fortune Company, boasting that the market value of the company exceeded 100 billion, and he was the chairman of a listed company.
However, he pays rent to these small hotels every year, and then fabricates a national expansion investment plan, creating the illusion of strength and attracting investors with high returns.
According to the police investigation, Li Guanghuai illegally raised 750 million yuan, of which more than 460 million yuan could not be recovered. The headline of that year was "Wanzhong Fortune Company", which made Wanzhong investors lose their blood ".
Deceived Wang Apo (83 years old): Some people have millions, and some people have more than 100,000 on that day. On that day, many old people, some with 50,000 yuan, some with 250,000 yuan, and some with 100,000 yuan, came to close the door.
Because the amount is extremely huge, there are many social workers in various places who raise funds to defraud, resulting in huge sums of money that cannot be recovered. On December 23rd, 2016, Li Guang Huai was sentenced to life imprisonment for the crime of fund-raising fraud. This typical case is of typical significance for accurately identifying the position and role of criminal suspects and defendants in the case.
In recent years, many cases have attracted people’s attention, some are huge funds, some involve many victims, some are large enterprises and seemingly reliable platforms, and there are also problems. Let’s take a look at several typical characteristics of the current case of suspected illegal fund-raising.
Current situation of cases involving illegal fund-raising
① Cases are frequent.
② Emerging fields have become the hardest hit areas.
3 deceptive.
(4) involves a large number of people, huge losses.
As we said before, due to the development of the Internet, some new situations have emerged, which naturally bring challenges to relevant laws and regulations. How to deal with these challenges, we continue to connect experts.
[Question]
1. Professor Wang, what do you think of the sudden increase in cases and data of suspected illegal fund-raising in 2018?
2. In cases involving illegal fund-raising, besides the definition of law in today’s Opinions, what challenges are we facing?
3. After all, the law is a punishment afterwards. Where should we strengthen the preliminary work, approval and supervision, especially the internet finance?
4. The victims of illegal fund-raising are basically ordinary people. From the perspective of ordinary people, what do you want to warn them most?
Accurate legal definition and clear standards are of course more conducive to law enforcement. In addition, prior supervision is also essential. We also hope that every ordinary person can be more rational in financial management and cover his own money bag.
Therefore, the one who says "the pie falls from the sky" must be very dangerous.