Three judges were arrested, and a divorce property dispute remained unresolved for 14 years
On the morning of September 23, 2021, the Hunan Provincial Women's Prison, located on Xiangzhang Road, Yuhua District, Changsha, held a trial on property disputes after divorce.
Presiding over the trial was a judge from the Wanxiu District Court in Wuzhou City, Guangxi Province. The plaintiff is Xu Shuqing, who is serving a prison sentence here, and the defendant is her ex-husband Zhang Songcheng.
Xu Shuqing is a well-known entrepreneur who was the chairman and president of Guangxi Wuzhou Zhongheng Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Guangxi Zhongheng Co., Ltd.). In August 2015, Xu Shuqing was investigated on suspicion of bribery by the unit and sentenced to 17 years in prison in 2017. That is why the aforementioned trial is scheduled to take place in prison.
She and Zhang Songcheng registered their divorce in April 2009, and four months later, Zhang Songcheng took Xu Shuqing to court over a property dispute after the divorce, and then Xu Shuqing sued Zhang Songcheng. The trial at the Hunan Provincial Women's Prison is another trial in the two cases after years of delay, and it has not yet been completed.
Since the initiation of the lawsuit, Zhang Songcheng and Xu Shuqing's post-divorce property dispute case has lasted 14 years. During this period, the lawsuit was full of twists and turns, especially as Xu Shuqing was investigated for suspected crimes, and several judges took bribes in the trial of the property division case. A lawyer told China Newsweek that a simple divorce and property dissolution case was complicated by a mixture of issues such as the judge's money and power transactions and bending the law for personal gain.
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6 divorce settlements
In Zhang Songcheng's recollections, he and Xu Shuqing met in Zhuhai, Guangdong in 1997. At that time, they were both 39 years old, Xu Shuqing's marital status was divorced, and there were also problems between Zhang Songcheng and his wife at the time, and later, Zhang Songcheng divorced, and on August 1, 2000, Zhang Xu and the two registered their marriage. They each have children, and after getting married, Xu Shuqing, who likes children, adopted two more children.
Although Zhang Xu and the two met in Guangdong, they were not Cantonese. Zhang Songcheng, a native of Ningyuan County, Hunan Province, joined the army in Zhuhai in 1976, served as the director of the People's Armed Forces Department and a member of the Standing Committee of the District Party Committee of Maonan District, Maoming City, and transferred to the Zhuhai Port Bureau in 2008, served as deputy director, and retired in 2019.
Zhang Songcheng told China Newsweek that Xu Shuqing, a native of Qiqihar, Heilongjiang, worked in the Animal Husbandry Bureau of Fufu County in Heilongjiang in his early years, and after divorcing his ex-husband, he went to Guangzhou in the 1980s to work for a Hong Kong-funded garment company in Guangzhou's Huangpu District. However, a legal person registration form filled out by Xu Shuqing in her early years of business showed that she worked in a garment factory in Heilongjiang from 1973 to 1992 and a garment factory in Huangpu, Guangzhou, since May 1992.
Xu Shuqing's entrepreneurial road began in August 1993, industrial and commercial information shows that she and others jointly funded the establishment of Guangzhou Huangpu District Lianfeng Trading Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Lianfeng Company), with a registered capital of 500,000 yuan, of which Xu contributed 300,000 yuan, accounting for 60%, as a legal person.
In 1997, the company was transformed from an original collective ownership enterprise into a limited liability company, engaged in clothing production and operation. By 2010, the company's registered capital has been increased several times, increasing to 100 million yuan, of which Xu Shuqing's capital contribution has increased to 90 million yuan, accounting for 90% of the shares. The name of the company was also changed several times, and in September 2004, it was changed to Guangzhou Baoyu Industrial Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Guangzhou Baoyu Company).
In August 2005, Guangzhou Baoyu Company invested 137.052 million yuan, accounting for 90% of the shares, and Zhao Xuewei, the son of Xu Shuqing, invested 15.228 million yuan, accounting for 10% of the shares, to jointly acquire 100% of the equity of Wuzhou Yuanyangjiang Bridge Co., Ltd. held by Guangxi Wuzhou Economic Development Company, which also made Guangzhou Baoyu Company controlled by Xu Shuqing indirectly become the largest shareholder of well-known pharmaceutical company and A-share listed company Guangxi Zhongheng Co., Ltd., and Xu Shuqing became the chairman. In May 2010, Wuzhou Yuanyangjiang Bridge Co., Ltd. changed its name to Guangxi Zhongheng Industrial Co., Ltd., and in December of the same year, Guangzhou Baoyu Company changed its name to Guangzhou Zhongheng Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Guangzhou Zhongheng Company).
Unlike the rapid progress in the business field, Xu Shuqing and Zhang Songcheng's marriage gradually fell apart. They married in Zhuhai, but Zhang Songcheng recalls that after the marriage, "she spent some time in Zhuhai and most of the time in Guangzhou." From 2002, Zhang Songcheng was also transferred to Maoming, and only returned to Zhuhai a few years later. During this period, from the end of 2003 to 2004, Xu Shuqing began to visit Guangxi frequently to inspect acquisition projects, and after the successful acquisition, he turned his energy to Guangxi. Later, the two fought a property lawsuit, and in a reply material, Xu Shuqing once recounted: "Since the beginning of 2006, the defendant (Xu) transferred all his business to Wuzhou City, Guangxi, and then transferred all his time and energy to Wuzhou City, Guangxi. From the beginning of 2006 to the present (until the lawsuit), the defendant has been living in Wuzhou City, Guangxi Province. Xu Shuqing also moved her household registration from Zhuhai to Wuzhou in August 2009.
As for why Zhang and Xu later developed to the point of divorce, Xu Shuqing said in the aforementioned defense materials: "Due to the weak emotional foundation of the two parties, incompatible personalities, work and other reasons, there are often many contradictions, and they have agreed to divorce many times and entered into a divorce agreement. In a self-report material, Xu Shuqing also mentioned that Zhang Songcheng "cheated on his mistress in marriage and abused me domestically", but for Xu's statement, China Newsweek asked Zhang Songcheng for verification, but Zhang denied it.
Since 24 November 2004, four years after their marriage, the two have signed six divorce agreements.
The earliest agreement was brief, with the first article on "children's issues" and the words "each child bearing their own burdens", followed by the handwritten statement "The parties had no children during the marriage". The second article is "property disposal issues (including private housing)", the lead text reads "property rights belong to each of them", and then adds the handwritten content "the woman's capital contribution and income in Guangzhou Baoyu Company belong to the woman".
The second signature, dated 9 September 2006, supplements the issue of property with handwritten writings that read, "i.e. the proceeds of property registered in their respective names after marriage belong to each of them".
The third agreement, signed on March 6, 2007, contains eight short articles, and the property issue still states that "each property belongs to each other", and adds that "if a dispute arises, the Guangxi Wuzhou Intermediate Court shall accept and have jurisdiction".
On August 2, 2007, the two signed another agreement, all handwritten, with a total of six articles, including: 1. Zhang Songcheng agreed to go through the divorce procedures on August 8, 2007; 2. After divorce, both parties agree to continue to live together for 1~2 years; 3. From the completion of the formalities, Xu Shuqing paid Zhang Songcheng a monthly salary of 15,000 yuan (the salary will be paid within X years); 4. and lent Zhang Songcheng 300,000 yuan for activity fees; 5. If you live well together for 1~2 years, remarry, break up if you can't live together, etc.
Zhang Songcheng and Xu Shuqing registered their divorce on April 7, 2009, and on the same day, they also signed a divorce agreement and filed it with the marriage registration office. The third article of this agreement is about "division of debts and property", which is in lead letters: "The debts under each name shall be borne by each of them; It belongs to the common property of the two people, Wuzhou City, Shenglong Xiuwan Building 8 20 north side housing (hereinafter referred to as "Shenglong Xiuwan House"), owned by Zhang Songcheng; In addition, Xu Shuqing paid Zhang Songcheng a one-time cash of 3 million yuan. ”
After the two registered their divorce, there was also a divorce agreement, the date was shown to be handwritten "2009.4.19", the lead part of this agreement is exactly the same as the first divorce agreement, and the handwritten content added is "The house in Zhuhai belongs to Zhang Songcheng, and the house in Shenglong Xiuwan belongs to Xu Shuqing." The agreement was also signed by two people and fingerprinted.
Different from Xu Shuqing's statement, Zhang Songcheng told a so-called "fake divorce" version of why the two divorced that year, which roughly is: At the end of 2008, when Zhang was transferred from the army to be resettled, Xu proposed that if Zhang was self-employed, he could find an investment partner and set up a color printing and packaging production enterprise in Wuzhou, and she could provide business resources, that is, after the establishment of the enterprise, it could be used as the designated supplier of Guangxi Zhongheng Shares. However, she consulted a lawyer because Guangxi Zhongheng shares are listed companies, and if they are husband and wife, this kind of business transaction will be a related party transaction, and in order to circumvent the law, they can go through fake divorce procedures. Zhang Songcheng agreed, and went with Xu to register the divorce. After completing the divorce procedures, Zhang gradually realized that something was wrong: Xu wanted to turn the fake divorce into a real divorce. Zhang Songcheng felt that he was deceived by Xu Shuqing.
However, China Newsweek failed to verify Zhang Songcheng's claims as described above.
Several judgments
In August 2009, with Xu Shuqing as the defendant, Zhang Songcheng filed a civil lawsuit with the Zhuhai Intermediate Court. Since then, the post-divorce property dispute case between Zhang and Xu, which has been delayed for more than ten years, has officially begun.
According to the Civil Complaint submitted by Zhang Songcheng to the Zhuhai Intermediate People's Court, his claim was: to request the division of 90% of the equity of Guangzhou Baoyu Company, which was not divided at the time of divorce, and to request a share of half of the equity, that is, the property worth 45 million yuan of capital contribution. He argues that at the time of the previous divorce, the Divorce Agreement only divided part of the common property.
After the Zhuhai Intermediate Court accepted the case, Xu Shuqing objected to the jurisdiction, arguing that the case should be transferred to the Wuzhou Intermediate Court of Guangxi for trial. The Zhuhai Intermediate Court ruled to agree to transfer the case to the jurisdiction of the Wuzhou Intermediate Court. Zhang Songcheng appealed to the Guangdong High Court, which rejected his appeal.
In April 2010, Xu Shuqing filed a complaint with the Wanxiu District Court of Wuzhou City, making Zhang Song the defendant, applying for a judgment confirming that the real estate rights in Shenglong Xiuwan belonged to Xu personally, and that Xu's 90% equity interest in Guangzhou Baoyu Company was his personal property.
Regarding the equity issue of Guangzhou Baoyu Company, Xu Shuqing claimed that the company was established before the marriage of the plaintiff and the defendant, and during the marriage relationship between the plaintiff and the defendant, the parties also clarified that the plaintiff's capital contribution and income in Guangzhou Baoyu Company were the plaintiff's personal property.
In April 2010, the Wuzhou Wanxiu District Court accepted Xu Shuqing v. Zhang Songcheng, and Zhang Songcheng raised a jurisdictional objection, which was rejected. In July of that year, the Wuzhou Intermediate Court ruled on Zhang Songcheng v. Xu Shuqing, which was also heard by the Wanxiu District Court.
Less than two months later, on September 9, the Wanxiu District Court held its first trial on the property dispute case between Zhang and Xu after their divorce, starting with Xu Shuqing v. Zhang Songcheng. On September 21 of that year, the Wanxiu District Court rendered the "(2010) Wan Min Chu Zi No. 177" civil judgment, ruling: 1. It was confirmed that 90% of the equity of the plaintiff Xu Shuqing in Guangzhou Baoyu Company was the property of the plaintiff Xu Shuqing; 2. The plaintiff Xu Shuqing's claim that the real estate rights in Thang Long Xiu Bay belong to him are dismissed. The verdict shows that the presiding judge of this case is Xiao Junwei.
After the aforementioned judgment was rendered, both Xu and Zhang appealed to the Wuzhou Intermediate Court. In August 2011, the Wuzhou Intermediate Court upheld the first item of the civil judgment of the Wanxiu District Court, revoked the second item of its judgment, and confirmed that the property of Thang Long Xiu Bay was the property of Xu Shuqing. The verdict shows that the presiding judge of the second instance of this case is Jiang Xuezheng.
Zhang Songcheng was not satisfied with the verdict and applied to the Guangxi High Court for a retrial. On January 18, 2013, the Guangxi High Court rejected Zhang's application for a retrial.
As for the case of Zhang Songcheng v. Xu Shuqing, after the Wanxiu District Court filed and accepted the case, it once made a ruling to suspend the trial on the grounds that "the case of '(2010) Wan Min Chu Zi No. 177' property dispute between plaintiff Xu Shuqing and defendant Zhang Xiucheng after divorce is still being tried in the second instance, and this case must be based on the outcome of this case", and resumed the trial after the final trial of the "(2010) Wan Min Chu Zi No. 177" case.
The Wanxiu District Court heard the case on September 22, 2011. Six days later, the Wanxiu District Court ruled that Zhang Songcheng's claim was dismissed. The court held that "in view of the '(2010) Wan Min Chu Zi No. 177 case' heard by this court that confirmed that the property claimed by the plaintiff in this case was Xu Shuqing's property, the plaintiff's claim to divide the property had no factual and legal basis, and this court did not support it." The verdict shows that the presiding judge of the case is Xiao Junwei.
Zhang Songcheng appealed to the Wuzhou Intermediate People's Court against the aforementioned judgment. On February 23, 2012, the Wuzhou Intermediate Court rendered a judgment, rejecting Zhang's appeal and upholding the original judgment. The verdict shows that the presiding judge of the second instance of the case is Zhou Chunxing. Zhang Songcheng was still not satisfied with the judgment of the Wuzhou Intermediate Court and applied to the Guangxi High Court for a retrial. In April 2013, his application for retrial was rejected.
Xu Shuqing's ex-husband Zhang Songcheng is outside the door of Hunan Women's Prison. Photo/provided by interviewee
Three judges were sentenced
After receiving the verdict, Zhang Songcheng put the matter aside and ignored it for a year or two. Until later, Xu Shuqing was arrested, and several Wuzhou judges had accidents. A business person from Wuzhou took the initiative to contact Zhang Songcheng, saying that the judges were related to his case and found the verdict documents for Zhang to see. After reading it, he felt that "the case will definitely be overturned."
Xu Shuqing's investigation occurred in August 2015, when she was placed on file for investigation and compulsory measures taken by the Hunan Provincial People's Procuratorate on suspicion of bribery. In October 2017, the Jishou City Court in Hunan Province convicted Xu Shuqing of the crime of embezzlement of office and bribery by the unit in the first instance, and sentenced him to 17 years in prison.
Legal documents obtained by China Newsweek show that, just as Zhang Songcheng was told, in the course of investigating and handling Xu Shuqing's case, Jin Ming, then vice president of the Wanxiu District Court in Wuzhou City, Jiang Xuezheng, acting president of the Cangwu County Court, and Zhou Chunxing, president of the Mengshan County Court, were investigated for allegedly accepting bribes during the trial of Xu Shuqing's property division case.
Jin Ming was detained on suspicion of bribery on June 8, 2016, and in August 2017, the Cenxi Municipal Court in Guangxi Province rendered a first-instance judgment that Jin Ming was guilty of accepting bribes and sentenced him to one year and three months in prison.
During the court hearing, it was found that in July 2009, Zhang Songcheng filed a lawsuit with the Zhuhai Intermediate Court for the division of the joint property of the husband and wife after his divorce from Xu Shuqing, and Xu Shuqing filed a jurisdictional objection with the Zhuhai Intermediate Court. On April 6, 2010, Xu Shuqing filed a lawsuit in the Wanxiu District Court, and Huang Weican asked Jin Ming for attention in the case. During the filing and trial stage of the case, Jin Ming greeted or questioned how the litigation fees of the case were collected and how the case was handled.
In July and August 2011 and the first half of 2012, when Jin Ming was invited to eat at a hotel with Huang Weican and Xu Shuqing's son Zhao Xuewei, he received a total of 120,000 yuan from Zhao Xuewei on the grounds of thanking Jin Ming for his help and care in Xu Shuqing's property case after divorce. One night before the Spring Festival in 2012, Jin Ming received a 10,000 yuan benefit fee from Huang Weican in gratitude for Jin Ming's care in the case he represented.
During the trial, Xiao Junwei, who served as the presiding judge in both litigation cases heard in the Wanxiu District Court, testified that the judgment of the case initiated by Xu Shuqing was signed by Jin Ming, the vice president in charge, because the case was very large in terms of the amount of money and the degree of impact, and according to the regulations, it must be signed by the vice president in charge; Basically, he would report to Jin Ming on every step of the progress of the case; Jin Ming once asked him whether Xu Shuqing's claims could be supported, and after the collegial panel's opinion came out, Jin Ming also asked "why Xu Shuqing's house in Wuzhou was awarded to Zhang Songcheng".
Another judge, Jiang Xuezheng, was suspected of taking bribes, which was discovered by the Anti-Corruption and Bribery Bureau of the Wanxiu District Procuratorate in Wuzhou City during the investigation of Huang Weican's related cases, after which Jiang was taken to the procuratorate to investigate and confessed to the crime of accepting bribes.
In December 2016, the Wanxiu District Court handed down a verdict in Jiang Xuezheng's case, sentencing Jiang Xuezheng to one year and ten months in prison, suspended for two years, for accepting bribes. The court found that from July 2011 to November 2013, Jiang Xuezheng took advantage of his position as the presiding judge and sponsor to seek benefits for others in the trial of the case, accepting a total of 161,600 yuan in cash and fees from Huang Weican, and illegally accepting 1,529 yuan in fees paid by relevant personnel of Guangxi Wuzhou Pharmaceutical (Group) Co., Ltd. and two pieces of jade purchased for 24,650 yuan.
According to public information, Guangxi Wuzhou Pharmaceutical (Group) Co., Ltd. is a subsidiary of Guangxi Zhongheng Co., Ltd.
Huang's testimony shows that Jiang is the presiding judge of Xu Shuqing's divorce property dispute case, and Jiang's daughter wants to learn to drive for a driver's license, so he helped contact the driving school and notify others to pay the money. After the verdict in the case, in February and March 2012, he went to Jiang's office and sent a thank you fee of 30,000 yuan in cash, and Jiang accepted it.
Jiang Xuezheng's confession and self-statement said that in June and July 2011, Xu Shuqing's divorce property division case was appealed to the First Civil Division of the Wuzhou Intermediate People's Court, Xu Shuqing was not satisfied with part of the first-instance judgment, and Huang Weican found him hoping that he would make a judgment favorable to Xu Shuqing, supported Xu's appeal request, and as the presiding judge, he changed part of the first-instance judgment and supported Xu Shuqing's appeal request.
Jiang also explained that in undertaking other cases involving companies affiliated to Guangxi Zhongheng Co., Ltd., Huang Weican asked him to help in the trial of the case.
The third judge, Zhou Chunxing, was sentenced to three years in prison in December 2016 by the Cangwu County Court in Guangxi Province for accepting bribes. The court found that in 2007, Zhou served as the presiding judge to hear and preside over a dispute over the land use right transfer contract between Guangxi Wuzhou Guanhao Real Estate Development Co., Ltd. and Guangxi Zhongheng Co., Ltd. Zhou took advantage of his position to provide convenient conditions for Guangxi Zhongheng Co., Ltd. in the litigation, and later accepted 100,000 yuan from Zhao Xuewei, vice president of Guangxi Zhongheng Co., Ltd. In 2012, Zhou Chunxing, as the presiding judge, heard a dispute over property division after the divorce of Xu Shuqing and Zhang Songcheng, and took advantage of his position to provide convenience for Xu Shuqing in the litigation, and later accepted 100,000 yuan from Huang Weican entrusted by Zhao Xuewei.
In the above case, Wong played an important role. China Newsweek learned that Huang was originally a cadre in the Legislative Affairs Department of the Wuzhou Public Security Bureau because he had extensive local connections and "had connections in public prosecution and law," and that in some of the lawsuits involving Xu Shuqing and Guangxi Zhongheng, Huang often acted as a proxy as a citizen, although he did not have the status of a lawyer. A lawyer who has dealt with Huang told China Newsweek that Huang's role is the equivalent of a "legal broker." After Xu Shuqing was investigated, Huang was also investigated, "and later heard that he was sentenced for corruption."
During the trial of Zhou Chunxing's case, Xu Shuqing's son Zhao Xuewei testified that at the end of 2011, he sent more than 4 million yuan to Huang Weican to help him dredge up relations in the insider trading case, and the aforementioned 100,000 yuan given to Zhou Chunxing through Huang was the one he asked Huang to spend first from the 4 million yuan, and then he returned to Huang Weican.
Initiate a retrial
In December 2017, Zhang Songcheng applied to the Wuzhou Intermediate People's Court for a retrial on the grounds that three judges of the original trial courts had wrongly committed corruption, bribery, favoritism, and unlawful adjudication, and provided the court with the judgments of the three as new evidence.
The Wuzhou Intermediate People's Court ruled to revoke the court's second-instance judgments in the aforementioned two cases and the first-instance judgments of the Wanxiu District Court, and both cases were remanded to the Wanxiu District Court for retrial.
It is in this context that there was a scene where Xu Shuqing herself participated in the trial in Hunan Provincial Women's Prison on September 23, 2021. That day, the Wanxiu District Court heard two cases simultaneously in prison. Zhang Songcheng also went outside the prison, but he did not attend the trial. Zhang Songcheng recalled that the last time he saw Xu Shuqing was when he went to the Zhuhai Intermediate Court in 2009 to file a case, and the two have not seen each other since.
In the retrial, Zhang Songcheng changed his claim, requesting that the property value of 90% of the equity of Guangzhou Zhongheng Company, which had not been divided at the time of the divorce, be divided, and that Xu pay the discount of the 90% equity to himself.
On January 29, 2023, the Wanxiu District Court rendered judgments in both cases. In the case of Xu Shuqing v. Zhang Songcheng, the judgment confirmed that 90% of the shares of Guangzhou Zhongheng Company registered in Xu's name belonged to Xu, and dismissed Xu's other litigation claims.
The court held that if the divorce was not concluded after the parties signed the agreement and Zhang Songcheng did not recognize it, the property division agreement signed before the divorce did not take effect, and it was not legally binding on both parties. The court confirmed that the capital contribution of 89.7 million yuan to Guangzhou Zhongheng Company increased by Zhang and Xu during the existence of the husband and wife relationship, that is, the corresponding 89.7% of the equity was the joint property of Xu and Zhang, and the defendant Zhang Songcheng was aware of the existence of the equity involved in the case at the time of divorce, and the agreement reached on the day of divorce on the disposal of the common property only agreed that the Shenglong Xiuwan House and 3 million yuan belonged to the defendant as a whole, but did not list the property obtained by the plaintiff Xu Shuqing, indicating that both parties agreed on the issue of the division of the joint property of the husband and wife. Except for the house involved and the $3 million that went to defendant Zhang, the rest of the property belonged to plaintiff Xu.
In the case of Zhang Songcheng v. Xu Shuqing, the court also ruled to dismiss all of Zhang Songcheng's claims.
Prior to the verdicts, Xu Shuqing had submitted a five-page handwritten document to the judge of the Wanxiu District Court. She wrote that Guangzhou Zhongheng Company, which is suing for equity, is the second largest shareholder (once the largest shareholder) of Guangxi Zhongheng Co., Ltd., a local listed company in Wuzhou, and "I founded and operated it myself, and it has been my hard work for many years."
"Zhang Songcheng and I married in 2000 and divorced in 2009, and both of us remarried, so our property and children belong to each other, and it is impossible to mix. Zhang Songcheng is a demobilized business member of the army, and does not have any enterprise management and operation capabilities at all, and Zhang Songcheng has never participated in the company's operation and management, nor has he made any contributions to the company. I myself started a business in Guangzhou in my early years, and later came to Wuzhou to develop, and have always lived in Wuzhou, which can be said to be almost my first hometown for myself. ”
Xu Shuqing expressed his concern, saying that if the equity change of Guangzhou Zhongheng Company occurs, it will directly affect the normal operation of Guangxi Zhongheng Co., Ltd. and will have an impact on the economy of Wuzhou City. "I don't want to see that."
Zhang Songcheng was not satisfied with the verdicts in the aforementioned two cases, and both have appealed to the Wuzhou Intermediate Court. China Newsweek learned that on August 25, 2023, the Wuzhou Intermediate Court had conducted a hearing, but the trial had not yet been completed.
(Intern Zhao Chenyan also contributed to this article)
Published in the 1111th issue of China Newsweek magazine on October 2, 2023
Magazine Title: A divorce property dispute case mixed with money and power transactions
Reporter: Liu Xiangnan