On October 25th, 65438/KLOC-0, the case of Cai Weijin, which shocked the whole country, was pronounced in the first instance of Kaifu District Court in Changsha. The principal offender, Chu Wei, the general manager of Cai Wei Bulk Precious Metals Exchange Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Hunan Cai Wei Company), made an illegal profit of 370 million yuan, which constituted the crime of illegal business operation. He was sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of 14 years and fined120,000 yuan.
Found to constitute the crime of illegal business operation, Chu Wei was sentenced to 14 years.
In the trial of the case in May this year, Chu Wei expressed no objection to the criminal facts accused by the public prosecution agency. The defender suggested that Chu Wei had a wrong understanding of the nature of the business behavior of Hunan Cai Wei Company, and subjectively there was no intention of illegal business operation, which did not constitute the crime of illegal business operation, but the court did not adopt this defense opinion.
The court held that Chu Wei had been in contact with the futures business before the establishment of Hunan Cai Wei Company and should have a clear understanding of a series of procedures. Hunan Cai Wei Company completely exceeded the approved business scope. Therefore, it can be concluded that Chu Wei deliberately engaged in illegal business, and without the approval of the relevant state departments, he engaged in futures business beyond the scope of business without authorization, and made an illegal profit of 370 million yuan, which constituted the crime of illegal business.
In terms of the determination of circumstances, the public prosecution agency determined that all the defendants of 10 were particularly serious and should be sentenced to more than five years' imprisonment. The court, on the other hand, held that the criminal law did not clearly stipulate the criteria for determining whether the crime of illegally operating securities, futures and insurance business was serious or particularly serious. Generally, it is determined on the basis of illegal business volume and illegal profits, taking into account subjective malignancy, social impact, actual harmful consequences and other factors. Chu Wei, Zhao Dan, Zou Longfei, Zhou Zhiyi and Bo Huang should all be regarded as "the circumstances are particularly serious". However, for five people, such as Xu, it should be considered as "serious". The court found Chu Wei as the principal offender and Zhao Dan, Zou Longfei and others as accomplices.
Therefore, the court finally sentenced Chu Wei to a fixed-term imprisonment of 14 years and a fine of120,000 yuan for the crime of illegal business operation. Zhao Dan was sentenced to 6 years' imprisonment and fined 8 million yuan. The other eight defendants were sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment 1.6 months (suspended for 2 years) to fixed-term imprisonment of 5 years. Unfreeze the funds in the personal accounts of trading customers in the margin trading account of Cai Weijin electronic trading system and return them to each trading customer respectively. The frozen and seized funds and materials shall be confiscated separately, turned over to the state treasury or dealt with according to law.
Hearing the verdict, the victim said he was "very disappointed"
Some victims who came from other places were discussing in the hotel near the court, and everyone expressed "great dissatisfaction" with the verdict.
"On behalf of the victims of 1 10, I am very sorry for this judgment." Hao Zhenyong, a lawyer representing some victims and a lawyer of Beijing Ying Zheng Law Firm, believes that the verdict has not played a role in "cracking down on crimes and protecting people". Hao Zhenyong believes that the behavior of Chu Wei and others should constitute a crime of fraud, but now it is a felony to be sentenced for illegal business operations, and according to Zhao Dan's illegal behavior, it should be regarded as the principal offender, and now it is only regarded as an accessory.
"What is most unacceptable to the victim is that the court ruled that the victim's compensation for losses is not in place." Hao Zhenyong said that according to Article 64 of the Criminal Law of People's Republic of China (PRC), "all property illegally acquired by criminals should be recovered or ordered to return compensation; The legal property of the victim should be returned in time. The money in the account of Chu Wei and others is the property of the victim and should be returned.
The victim said that the next step will be through legal channels, hoping to get a refund.
Lawyer's point of view: the difficulties of participants are understandable, but it is difficult to recover the money.
In this case, Wang Shu, a lawyer of Hunan Wanhe United Law Firm, believes that Hunan Cai Wei Company engages in such transactions without approval, and its behavior is illegal. Because the purpose of Chu Wei and others is not to directly occupy the trader's money, but to earn commissions by constantly trading the trader's money on the platform, their behavior cannot be classified as fraud. Since the money is illegal business income, it belongs to illegal income, so the court will decide to turn it over to the state treasury. The victim's difficulties are understandable, but because the participants' actions are illegal, it is difficult for the money to be protected and recovered by law.
The court reminded that when investing, we must see clearly the qualifications of the operators.
The Kaifu District Court reminded the public that many "underground gold speculation" companies vigorously develop customers in the name of overseas gold companies acting in China, and attract investors who don't know the truth with high returns. It is illegal to participate in underground gold speculation. In illegal futures trading, the security of personal funds and transactions cannot be guaranteed. Therefore, when citizens invest in securities and futures, they must confirm the operators' business qualifications, and buy and sell listed varieties on regular exchanges through legal channels and formal procedures, giving illegal operators an opportunity.