In 1997, the Wanglaoji Food and Beverage Branch of Guangzhou Yangcheng Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Group, signed a trademark licensing contract with Hong Kong Hongdao Group. In 2000, as the holder of the Wong Lao Kat trademark, GPHL signed a formal contract with Hong Dao Group, agreeing that Hong Kong Hong Dao Group would lease the "Wong Lao Kat" trademark until 2010.
From 2002 to 2003, Hongdao Group signed two supplementary agreements with GPHL, extending the trademark lease period to 2013 and 2020 respectively. During this period, Li Yimin, the former general manager of GPHL, accepted a bribe of HK$3 million from Chen Hongdao, chairman of Hongdao Group.
GPharm Group believes that it is precisely because Li Yimin accepted bribes that the Wanglaoji trademark was "severely rented at a low price". From 2000 to 2010, the sales volume of red can Wonglaoji has increased from 200 million yuan to 16 billion yuan, while during the same period, Jiaduobao’s annual trademark royalties to GPHL only increased from 4.5 million yuan to 5.06 million yuan. Even by 2020 It is only 5.37 million yuan per year.
According to the information provided by Guangzhou Pharmaceutical, the 3 million Hong Kong dollars that Li Yimin received from Chen Hongdao was given to Li Yimin in three installments by Chen Hongdao in August 2001, August 2002 and June 2003. Regarding the reason for sending a large amount of money to Li Yimin, Chen Hongdao said in his testimony that as early as the 1990s, Jiaduobao Company rented the "Wanglaoji" trademark. By 2003, the trademark use rights expired, and Chen Hongdao asked Guangyao The group extended the right to use the trademark for 10 years. At this time, Li Yimin asked him for HKD 3 million on the grounds that something happened to his daughter. Although Chen felt a little embarrassed at the time, because he had business dealings with Li Yimin's Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Group, he was worried about the consequences of not paying him. The company's business had to be given to him in three installments. Regarding Chen's testimony, Li Yimin angrily stated that he had never asked Chen for a penny; Li Yimin's lawyer also believed that Chen issued this testimony to shirk responsibility.
"In June 2004, the Procuratorate investigated Chen Hongdao for suspected bribery. Chen Hongdao confessed that he paid bribes to extend the use rights of Wanglaoji. On October 2, 2005, the Guangdong Public Security and Border Defense Department arrested the criminal suspect Chen Hongdao On the 19th of that month, the procuratorate took compulsory measures to release the criminal suspect Chen Hongdao on bail pending trial, but Chen Hongdao abandoned the bail and absconded, and so far he has not been arrested and brought to justice," said a senior official of GPHL.
On July 1, 2005, the Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court made a first-instance judgment against Li Yimin. The court found that Li Yimin had accepted bribes of RMB 209,000, HKD 3.29 million, and US$25,000, and sentenced him to life imprisonment. All personal property shall be confiscated. Li Yimin was dissatisfied and appealed. In the same year, the Guangdong Provincial Higher People's Court made a final verdict of 15 years in prison against Li Yimin for accepting bribes.
The lawyer said that Chen Hongdao could be sentenced to up to life in prison
Yesterday, a reporter from China Economic Network interviewed a lawyer surnamed Chen in Beijing regarding the case of Chen Hongdao abandoning bail and absconding. Lawyer Chen told reporters that according to Article 389 of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of my country, Article 390 stipulates: The crime of bribery refers to the act of giving money and property to state functionaries in order to seek illegitimate benefits; Article 390 stipulates: Anyone who commits the crime of bribery shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than five years or criminal detention; for seeking illegitimate benefits through bribery, If the circumstances are serious, or if the national interests suffer heavy losses, they shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than five years but not more than ten years; if the circumstances are particularly serious, they shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than ten years or life imprisonment, and may also be sentenced to confiscation of property.
Lawyer Chen said that Chen Hongdao had paid bribes many times, and the amount of bribes was extremely huge. According to the sentencing standards for bribery, he could be sentenced to more than ten years in prison; and his absconding after jumping bail was one of the severe punishments. In particularly serious cases, the maximum penalty is life imprisonment.
The reporter then interviewed Tian Wei, chief representative of Jiaduobao’s corporate communications, via text message, asking him to express his opinion on Chen Hongdao’s bribery and absconding, which could lead to a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. However, as of the time of publication, Tian Wei had not received any information. Any reply from Wei.
Some people in the legal profession pointed out that giving and receiving bribes are twin sisters. The two fuel each other and are one of the most serious and egregious corruption phenomena. In the short term, they can lead to a lose-lose situation for both parties.
Both GPHL and Jiaduobao have indeed paid a heavy price for the "big bargain" of bribery and acceptance: not only were the two direct parties involved in the bribery and acceptance of bribes, one was sentenced to a severe sentence, and one jumped bail and absconded for seven years, "Jiaduobao" The kingdom of "Baohong Can Wanglaoji" also collapsed, and "Guangyao Wanglaoji" has a long road ahead.