Ham, biscuits, lollipops, yogurt, coffee, chocolate, toothbrushes, pads, shampoo... Do you believe that the daily necessities sold in these supermarkets have become the stolen goods of supermarket employees!
On September 4, Ms. Zhao of Xilinhot, Inner Mongolia, told the China Business Daily Gale News that several employees had been sentenced and many were released on bail in the theft of her supermarket so far. She said that the collective theft of many people is one of the important reasons for the sudden closure of supermarkets, and she will defend her rights in accordance with the law and let the thieves be punished by the law.
Supermarket employees cooperate with each other to steal supermarket items by scanning codes to pay less or not to pay
The husband is sick
The female owner co-operated the supermarket and closed down after 7 months
Ms. Zhao, whose ancestral home is Henan, came to Xilinhot City, Inner Mongolia with her husband many years ago to do business.
In August 2019, Ms. Zhao took over a 3,000-square-meter supermarket in the bustling area of Xilinhot city center. Due to its well-managed and strict management, Ms. Zhao's supermarket soon entered the fast lane of development.
However, the weather is unpredictable. On January 17, 2021, Ms. Zhao's husband suddenly fell ill, and Ms. Zhao had to accompany her husband to Beijing for surgery. Under these circumstances, on January 23 of that year, Ms. Zhao and her friend's relatives verified the contract and decided to run a supermarket in partnership. At that time, because Ms. Zhao had to take care of her husband, the supermarket was mainly managed by the other party.
On August 8, 2021, the supermarket operated by Ms. Zhao and others closed down for various reasons.
During the inventory, employee theft was found through monitoring
After calling the police, more than one person was found to have been stolen
On August 20, 2021, Ms. Zhao and her family discovered through monitoring during the inventory of the supermarket that a female cashier in the supermarket had stolen.
"We asked the cashier what was going on, but they didn't admit to stealing, so we had to call the police."
Ms. Zhao said that at the local police station, the cashier confessed that she did "take" supermarket things, and more than once. In addition, she is not the only one who "takes" supermarket things, but many people.
After obtaining this information, Ms. Zhao hurriedly returned to the supermarket to obtain monitoring, only to find that many employees had indeed stolen the supermarket. Ms. Zhao continued to call the police and defend her rights in accordance with the law. Soon, several supermarket employees were placed on file for investigation.
In the transcript made by the police station, Ms. Zhao said that the goods that could be seen in the initial surveillance were worth about 10,000 yuan.
In August 2021, a female cashier suspected of theft was taken away by police for investigation
The first four supermarket employees were given suspended sentences
The supermarket owner's protest was dismissed
On December 20, 2021, the Xilinhot Municipal Procuratorate charged the defendants Liu, Yue, Li (all supermarket cashiers) and Su (supermarket tally clerks) with theft and filed a public prosecution with the Xilinhot Municipal Court.
The prosecution alleges that the above-mentioned four people cooperated with each other while working as cashiers and tally clerks in a supermarket in Xilinhot City, and committed multiple thefts (identified 19 cases) in the supermarket by scanning codes and paying less, stealing soy sauce, green tea, ham, yogurt, chicken feet, apples, green onions, laundry detergent, wet wipes, toothbrushes, pads, etc. from supermarkets.
The prosecuting organ held that the above-mentioned four persons had repeatedly jointly and secretly stolen other people's property for the purpose of illegal possession, violating the provisions of articles 264 and 25 of the Criminal Law, the facts of the crime were clear, the evidence was credible and sufficient, and they should be investigated for criminal responsibility for the crime of theft.
During the trial, the four defendants had no objection to the charges charged by the prosecution, the facts of the crime and the history of the crime, and pleaded guilty and accepted punishment in court. The defenders of the four defendants argued that the circumstances of the four defendants' crimes were minor, the subjective malignancy was small, the harm to society was not great, and they could truthfully confess the facts of the crime after arriving at the case, which met the conditions for probation, and hoped that the four defendants would be sentenced to suspended sentences.
The Xilinhot Municipal Court held that the facts of the prosecution's charge of the four people for theft were clear, the evidence was true and sufficient, and the charges were established. After the case, Ms. Zhao and her family received a total of 65,000 yuan in compensation from Yue, Su and Li themselves or their families, and issued a letter of understanding to express understanding to the above three people.
On January 26, 2022, the Xilinhot Municipal Court sentenced the four defendants to four months' imprisonment and six months' suspended sentences for theft, fixed-term imprisonment ranging from six months to one year, and suspended sentences ranging from six months to two two years for theft. Some of the stolen goods seized at the police (lollipops, sanitary napkins, shampoo, drinks, etc.) were returned to the supermarket. Order Liu to return the stolen goods to the supermarket.
After the verdict was pronounced in the first instance, the four defendants did not appeal. Ms. Zhao was not satisfied with the first-instance verdict and applied to the procuratorate to file a complaint, which was rejected. The judgment of the first instance came into effect.
Several more supermarket employees were sentenced this year
Several others have been released on bail
Ms. Zhao said that with the deepening of the investigation, since 2022, under her continuous feedback, a number of supermarket employees suspected of theft have been placed on file for investigation and released on bail.
On December 20, 2022, the Xilinhot Municipal Procuratorate charged Wang with theft and filed a public prosecution with the Xilinhot Municipal Court.
The prosecution alleged: Between July and August 2021, while working as a tally clerk in a supermarket in Xilinhot City, defendant Wang cooperated with supermarket cashier Liu (to be dealt with in a separate case) to commit 19 thefts in the supermarket by scanning codes to pay less or not to pay, stealing many items such as instant noodles, yogurt, chicken feet, cashew nuts, egg yolk pies, biscuits, canned food, red wine, white wine, sanitary napkins and other items in the supermarket.
Wang did not raise any objection to the facts, charges and sentencing recommendations charged by the prosecution, and voluntarily admitted guilt and accepted punishment and signed it. In March 2023, Wang's friend compensated Ms. Zhao with 35,000 yuan on behalf of Wang, and Ms. Zhao forgave Wang.
On April 28 this year, the Xilinhot Municipal Court sentenced Wang to nine months' imprisonment and fined him 2,000 yuan for theft in the first instance.
Prior to this, on February 15, 2023, the Xilinhot Municipal Court also sentenced the defendant Su to six months' imprisonment and a fine of 1,000 yuan for the same crime, and at the same time decided to revoke the 2021 suspended sentence against Su, punished several crimes concurrently, decided to jointly carry out the fixed-term imprisonment of 10 months and fined 2,000 yuan.
Ms. Zhao said that in addition to the sentences of the above-mentioned people, six former supermarket employees have been released on bail by the public security or procuratorate pending trial.
"The large-scale theft by supermarket employees accelerated the closure of the supermarket and caused irreparable losses to me." Ms. Zhao said that after the supermarket closed, she was heavily in debt and is now being sued by several suppliers, and she is physically and mentally exhausted.
Therefore, Ms. Zhao hopes that the judicial authorities will handle the case fairly in accordance with the law, so that the employees who have stolen supermarkets will be punished by the law.
What the lawyer said:
Multiple thefts, regardless of the value of the case, constitute theft
According to Jia Yudang, a lawyer at Shaanxi Haogong Law Firm, article 264 of the Criminal Law stipulates that anyone who steals public or private property, or commits multiple thefts, burglaries, thefts with murder weapons, or pickpocketing, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention or surveillance, and a fine or both; where the amount is very large or there are other serious circumstances, a fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than ten years shall be imposed and a fine; Where the amount is particularly large or there are other particularly serious circumstances, a fixed-term imprisonment of not less than 10 years or life imprisonment shall be imposed, and a fine or confiscation of property shall be imposed.
"In other words, multiple thefts, regardless of the value of the case, will constitute the crime of theft." According to Jia Yu, Article 3 of the Interpretations of the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Handling of Criminal Cases of Theft clearly stipulates that if there are more than three thefts within two years, it shall be recognized as multiple thefts.
China Business Daily Gale News Reporter Chen Youmou Editor Wang Zhenan
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