According to media reports such as Red Star Capital Bureau and Financial Associated Press, it was learned from informed sources that the secret operator of the TST Court has been determined by the market supervision department to constitute the illegal act of organizing and planning pyramid schemes, and has been confiscated 19.2799 million yuan of illegal gains and fined 1.7 million yuan.
It has been about four months since the brand "TST Court Secret" of celebrities Zhang Ting and Lin Ruiyang was exposed to suspected pyramid schemes and was investigated. Hubei Baokang County Market Supervision and Administration Bureau determined that from January 1, 2018 to July 2021, the revenue of related companies in the main business involving pyramid schemes totaled 9.171 billion yuan and the profit was 19.2799 million yuan.
According to the Beijing Youth Daily, Liao Jianxun, a lawyer at Guangdong Baodian Law Firm, said in an interview with the Beijing Youth Daily reporter that at present, mainland countries mainly use administrative punishment and criminal case filing to investigate these two means. In other words, the illegal and criminal activities of pyramid schemes may bear administrative or criminal liability.
In addition, according to the provisions of article 224 of the Criminal Law and the Opinions of the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate and the Ministry of Public Security on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in Handling Criminal Cases of Organizing and Leading Pyramid Schemes, the elements constituting a criminal offence of pyramid schemes are much stricter than those of administrative violations.
"It must be of such a fraudulent nature that defrauds others of their finances." Liao Jianxun said that if there is no fraud nature, then it may be an administrative violation.
According to Liao Jianxun, according to article 224 of the Criminal Law, if the crime of organizing and leading pyramid schemes is constituted, then it can be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than five years and fined, and if the circumstances are serious, it can also be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of more than five years and a fine. "In the case of administrative violations, like the case of Zhang Ting and his wife, the main body of punishment is generally the company, because the current crime of organizing and leading pyramid schemes is to carry out activities in the name of the company, so the main body of punishment is the company." They are not implicated individually. ”
"It should be pointed out that if it is suspected of constituting a criminal offense, then the criminal responsibility of the relevant responsible persons should be pursued. Therefore, if Zhang Ting and his wife constitute a criminal offense, they may be investigated for criminal responsibility. Liao Jianxun said.
>>> previously reported
At the end of December 2021, Zhang Tinglin and his wife's company, Shanghai Darway Trading Co., Ltd., was investigated and punished for suspected pyramid schemes.
On the morning of December 29, 2021, the Shijiazhuang Yuhua District Market Supervision and Administration Bureau responded:
Since 2013, this MLM organization has a large number of people involved in the case in the jurisdiction, but the specific number of people is inconvenient to disclose, and the amount involved in the case is relatively huge. The staff member also introduced that judging from the current investigation, this MLM organization belongs to a kind of commercial MLM behavior, which is not enough to constitute a fraudulent MLM. At present, the case has entered the financial audit stage.
According to Qinghai Pufa, the Shijiazhuang Yuhua District Market Supervision and Administration Bureau replied to the "Verification Letter" of the "Li Xu Anti-MLM Team", which had filed a case against Shanghai Darway Trading Co., Ltd. as early as June 5, 2021, and said that "because it used financial institutions to transfer or conceal funds involved in pyramid schemes, the bureau has applied to the people's court to take preservation measures in accordance with the law, and the case is currently under further investigation."
The relevant personnel of the Shijiazhuang Yuhua District Market Supervision and Administration Bureau revealed that the frozen funds were as high as 600 million yuan (frozen in two parts, 300 million yuan for the main company and 300 million yuan for an agent and team leader). It is reported that Darway Company is the main operator of the "TST Court Secret", and the actual controller of the company is Lin Ruiyang Zhang Ting and his wife.
[Source: Jiupai News Comprehensive Beijing Youth Daily, Red Star Capital Bureau, Financial Associated Press, People's Daily, Qinghai Popularization of Law and other reports]
Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author, if there is an error in the source or infringement of your legitimate rights and interests, you can contact us through the mailbox, we will deal with it in a timely manner. Email address: [email protected]