Zhou Zhifeng was sentenced to life imprisonment, what do you think of the fundraising fraud case?
introduction
Recently, a high-profile fund-raising fraud case was publicly pronounced in the Shanghai No. 1 Intermediate People's Court, which has attracted wide attention from all walks of life. It is reported that Zhou Zhifeng, as the actual controller of Yongfu Company, illegally raised more than 3.3 billion yuan through false publicity and high return promises, causing huge economic losses of more than 1.2 billion yuan to more than 200 investors. In this case, Zhou Zhifeng was sentenced to life imprisonment for fund-raising fraud in the first instance and sentenced to confiscation of all personal property. At the same time, 20 victims' representatives also observed the sentencing process.
The frequent occurrence of fund-raising fraud cases has brought a great negative impact on investors and society, and has also sounded the alarm for the judiciary and regulatory authorities. In the face of the grim situation of financial crimes, how should we view this case, how to avoid financial risks, and how to strengthen financial supervision, let's discuss in depth below.
1. Review of the case
1. Background
Yongfu Company is a private enterprise with "Internet + Finance" as the development model, Zhou Zhifeng, as the actual controller of the company, has been engaged in related business in the financial field for a long time, and through various channels to expand the company's popularity and influence.
2. Illegal fundraising process
In order to obtain more funds for the company's expansion and operation, Zhou Zhifeng began to use various publicity channels to hype that Yongfu Company has extremely high investment value, which can bring investors dozens or even hundreds of times the annual amazing return, and soon attracted the attention of many investors.
With the enthusiastic participation of investors, Zhou Zhifeng began to illegally raise funds under various names, and the funds involved gradually climbed, and the high returns he promised also became a "stepping stone" for investors, thus attracting a large influx of funds more quickly, forming a huge "capital pool".
3. The investor suffers losses
However, when the high returns expected by investors came as expected, they found that the projects they invested in did not achieve the expected results, and the previous returns were only "superficial", in fact, they used the funds of later investors to "cover up" the early investors, which made many investors gradually realize that they may have fallen into a huge illegal fundraising scam.
With the increasing doubts of investors and the demand for redemption of investments, the capital chain of Yongfu Company quickly collapsed, and Zhou Zhifeng was also taken criminal coercive measures in accordance with the law under the investigation of the regulatory authorities, and the more than 3.3 billion yuan of funds involved in the case also became "shell assets" that could not be returned.
4. The result of the court's decision
After a thorough investigation and trial, the Shanghai No. 1 Intermediate People's Court held that Zhou Zhifeng's actions had constituted the crime of fund-raising fraud, which had brought huge actual economic losses to more than 200 investors, that his crimes were extremely serious, and that the harm to society was also very great, so he was sentenced to life imprisonment and confiscated all his personal property in accordance with the law.
At the same time, the court also fully respected and protected the procedural rights and interests of the victims, allowing 20 victims' representatives to observe the entire process of the verdict, so that they had a more direct understanding of the trial of the case and the outcome of the verdict, and also laid a more solid legal foundation for the follow-up enforcement work.
II. Significance of the case
1. A warning to investors
The first-instance verdict of this case once again sent a clear signal to all sectors of society, and also issued a strong warning to the majority of investors, that is, any investment project involving high returns has certain risks, and the so-called "high returns" are likely to be just a false propaganda and fraud under a gorgeous appearance.
Therefore, investors must keep a clear mind when making asset allocation and investment decisions, treat various investment products rationally, and at the same time enhance risk awareness, fully understand the basic situation of the investment project, and do not blindly chase the so-called "high returns", let alone be blinded by the sweet words of the moment, otherwise it is easy to become a tool for others to make illegal profits, thereby suffering serious economic losses.
2. Fight against financial crime
At the same time, the first-instance verdict of this case also once again demonstrates the judicial authorities' zero-tolerance and severe punishment attitude towards financial crimes, whether it is engaging in illegal fund-raising, pyramid scheme fraud, or other financial criminal activities that infringe on public interests and social stability, once investigated and dealt with by the judicial organs in accordance with the law, they will be punished by the law, and there will never be the slightest "gray area".
This kind of severe judicial adjudication can not only effectively deter potential criminals and reduce the occurrence of similar criminal activities, but also maintain the fairness and orderliness of the financial market, protect the legitimate rights and interests of investors, and help build a good financial legal environment and promote the healthy and sustainable development of the financial industry.
3. Implications for regulatory work
Of course, the reason why this fund-raising fraud case was able to occur and brought such huge economic losses to investors is also related to some loopholes and deficiencies in financial supervision work, especially in the process of supervision and flow of funds, the regulatory authorities did not timely discover and intervene in the abnormal situation of the funds involved in the case, which gave criminals an opportunity to take advantage of and further expand the scope of influence of the case.
Therefore, in strengthening financial supervision and risk prevention, the departments concerned must draw lessons from this case, further improve the financial supervision and control system, strengthen the whole-process supervision and control of all kinds of financial activities, strengthen the real-time monitoring and early warning mechanism for capital flows, promptly discover and deal with all kinds of potential financial risks and hidden dangers, effectively curb the breeding and spread of all kinds of illegal financial activities, and create a safer and more reliable investment environment for the vast number of investors.
3. Personal thinking
1. Strengthen risk education
I would like to express my full recognition and support for the verdict of this case, and I also express my sincere admiration for the judicial authorities for being able to punish financial criminals in accordance with the law so decisively, and at the same time call on investors to learn from the experience and lessons learned, strengthen financial risk education, improve the ability to identify and avoid various financial risks, rational investment, and prudent decision-making, so as to achieve stable and sustainable wealth appreciation under the premise of ensuring the safety of assets.
2. Actively participate in supervision
At the same time, I also hope that all sectors of society can actively participate in the discussion and supervision of financial supervision and public affairs, pay more attention to and think about the various chaos and problems existing in the financial market, and can also put forward constructive opinions and suggestions in a targeted manner, so as to provide useful reference for the work of the regulatory departments, jointly safeguard the fairness and justice of the financial market, and promote the work of financial supervision to a new level.
epilogue
Whether it is from investors, financial institutions, or regulatory departments and judicial organs, we need to learn from experience and wisdom, identify the shortcomings and improvement directions in our own work, and jointly build a clean and upright financial ecosystem to provide solid financial support and guarantee for the sustainable development of the economy and society.
Finally, let us all hope that through a series of strong regulatory and judicial actions, we can effectively curb the spread of all kinds of financial crime activities, and create a safer, transparent and orderly financial environment for investors and the general public.
Resources
1. [Official website of Shanghai No. 1 Intermediate People's Court] (http://shzy.chinacourt.org/index.php?m=wap&c=index&a=show&catid=75&id=452057)
2. [Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China] (http://www.npc.gov.cn/npc/xinwen/2018-11/06/content_2060753.htm)