The Paper's reporter Xie Yinzong intern Lu Jingyao
On January 27, the case of Chongqing contractor Yi Zhenwu, who had suspended the trial, "secretly filmed Zhang Jiahui playing mahjong" extortion and extortion was tried again, and the trial lasted more than five hours and then adjourned. The court said that after the collegial panel adjourned for deliberation, it would decide whether to hold the third hearing or choose a date to pronounce the verdict.
The extortion case of the contractor who suspended the trial "secretly photographed Zhang Jiahui playing mahjong" was tried at the Wanzhou District Court in Chongqing on January 27
Participants in the trial said on January 28 that the focus of the trial that day was whether Yi Zhenwu had the intention to illegally take possession of other people's property, and the prosecution and defense, as well as Zhang Jiahui's husband Liu Yuansheng's agent ad litem, debated around this focus.
Yi Zhenwu's defender argued that Yi Zhenwu did not have the "purpose of illegal possession" in the criminal law, and its purpose was to negotiate and solicit funds for labor projects, and should not be regarded as the crime of extortion.
However, the prosecution believes that Yi Zhenwu extorted and extorted other people's property, the amount was particularly huge, the facts of the crime were clear, the evidence was credible and sufficient, and he should be investigated for criminal responsibility for the crime of extortion. It is recommended that he be sentenced to more than 10 years' imprisonment and fined.
On December 4, 2020, the Hainan Provincial No. 1 Intermediate People's Court publicly pronounced a verdict in the first instance of Zhang Jiahui, former vice president of the Hainan Provincial High Court, for accepting bribes, administrative perversion of the law, and fraud, and Zhang Jiahui was sentenced to 18 years in prison, and the court found that she had illegally accepted property totaling RMB43.75 million.
Focus 1: Whether Yi Zhenwu can ask Liu Yuansheng for money
According to the wanzhou district procuratorate's indictment against Yi Zhenwu, in June 2014, Yi Zhenwu and Yi Shuangquan jointly funded the labor service project of Huajun Hotel invested and built by Hainan Dinas Investment Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Dinas Company") in the name of Wanzhou District Rongwen Construction Labor Service Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Rongwen Company"), with a subject amount of more than RMB 19.07 million.
The Wanzhou District Procuratorate's indictment against Yi Zhenwu's involvement in extortion.
On November 9, 2017, Yi Zhenwu, Liu Yuansheng, general manager of Dinas Company, and others determined that the settlement amount of the project totaled 22.6 million yuan after repeated consultations and settlements, and signed the Settlement Agreement. In January 2018, all the labor project funds were settled.
The indictment alleges that in April 2017, Yi Zhenwu mailed to Zhang Jiahui the audio of Liu Yuansheng's boasting of unclean economic problems of a central leader and a video of Liu Yuansheng's wife, Zhang Jiahui, who was a civil servant, playing mahjong, on the grounds that the project payment had not been clearly settled, in order to publish the audio and video on the information network to threaten and demand money. After watching the audio and video, Liu Yuansheng negotiated with Yi Zhenwu and agreed to pay 2 million yuan. On May 30 of the same year, Yi Zhenwu was paid 500,000 yuan by bank transfer, and then reported the case to the public security organs. Yi Zhenwu was arrested on June 14, 2018.
For the 2 million yuan, Yi Zhenwu said in the confession materials that the payment included 1.59 million yuan for machinery and equipment leasing, lost work, management fees, etc., 400,000 yuan generated by aerated bricks for red bricks, 140,000 yuan for roof and canopy tile decoration, and 120,000 yuan for changing and increasing the project, a total of 2.25 million yuan. On May 16, 2018, when Liu Yuansheng flew to Wanzhou to negotiate with him, he said that on October 7, 2017, he gave 300,000 labor fees, and the 300,000 yuan should be reduced from 2.25 million miles, that is, 1.95 million yuan. "I said that for the sake of my loss, I should simply give me 50,000 more, a total of 2 million."
According to the personnel participating in the trial, during the trial, whether Yi Zhenwu could negotiate with Liu Yuansheng to ask for project funds became one of the focal points of the debate.
Liu Yuansheng's litigation agent held that Yi Zhenwu, under the circumstance that all the project funds had been settled and there was no creditor's rights and debts relationship with Liu Yuansheng personally, demanded 300,000 yuan and 2 million yuan (500,000 yuan) of money from Liu Yuansheng personally to invest in the stock market, and his purpose was obviously improper.
However, Yi Zhenwu's defender believes that the evidence in this case fully proves that Yi Zhenwu is the actual builder of the project involved in the case and enjoys the ultimate rights. Although the contract was signed by the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Metallurgical Construction Company (hereinafter referred to as the Guangye Company) and the Rongwen Company, the essence of the contract was determined by Liu Yuansheng, who was the one who played the decisive role, and it was settled by Yi Zhenwu and Liu Yuansheng. From the perspective of consultation and signing, Liu Yuansheng signed on behalf of Guangye Company, including the memorandum, confirmation letter, and settlement agreement, which liu Yuansheng signed on behalf of Party A, Liu Yuansheng is the actual boss of Dinas, and Yi Zhenwu has the right to ask Liu Yuansheng for project funds.
His defender also argued that the Settlement Agreement could not be regarded as a final settlement, because Article 6 of it stipulated that "other unfinished matters shall be determined by the two parties through separate consultation" and did not resolve the disputed issues, so Yi Zhenwu had reason to go to Liu Yuansheng again to ask for relevant funds.
Yi Zhenwu asked Liu Yuansheng for the project money under Article 6 of the Settlement Agreement
Focus 2: Whether there is any intention to illegally take possession of other people's property
Those who participated in the trial said that the most important focus of the trial on that day was whether Yi Zhenwu had the intention to illegally occupy other people's property.
Liu Yuansheng's litigation agent believes that Yi Zhenwu pestered Liu Yuansheng and demanded money from him because he knew that Guangye Company would only settle in strict accordance with the more than 19.07 million yuan stipulated in the "Hainan Huajun Hotel Labor Service Contract" and would not be able to pay more. In order to demand additional money, Yi Zhenwu premeditated to shoot an audio and video that was unfavorable to Liu Yuansheng and his family, and used this to blackmail Liu Yuansheng, who was forced to participate in the coordination of settlement and agreed to pay an additional amount of more than 3.52 million yuan on behalf of Dinas, and finally the project was settled with 22.6 million yuan. After the settlement was completed, Yi Zhenwu continued to ask Liu Yuansheng for 300,000 yuan and 2 million yuan twice, and Liu Yuansheng was forced to give in step by step, and the payment of the money was based on fear after being coerced by Yi Zhenwu. Yi Zhenwu's purpose is obviously improper, and criminal responsibility should be pursued for the crime of extortion.
Yi Zhenwu before his detention.
The prosecution held in court that the Settlement Agreement signed on November 9, 2017 had been fulfilled, was signed on the premise of equality and voluntariness, was signed without fraud and coercion, the intention was true, there were no missing items or outstanding matters, and the Settlement Agreement included the amount, increase in area, and lost time fees, and did not omit anything.
The prosecution argued that, under the Contract Law, the contract had been performed and the relevant rights had been extinguished. According to the relativity of the contract, Yi Zhenwu can only find the contracting party, not Liu Yuansheng, let alone Zhang Jiahui, and the 500,000 yuan has not been handed over to Yi Shuangquan, nor has he informed Yan Zongwen, the legal representative of Rongwen Company, so Yi Zhenwu has the purpose of illegally occupying other people's property.
In this regard, Yi Zhenwu's defender said in court that after signing the Settlement Agreement, Yi Zhenwu contacted Liu Yuansheng to ask for payment of 2.25 million yuan that was cut off without cause, which was based on evidence, Yi Zhenwu did not ask Liu Yuansheng to pay 2.25 million yuan out of thin air, and subjectively wanted to return this part of the cut-off expenses, and there was no purpose of illegally possessing other people's money.
Public Prosecution Opinion: Recommend a sentence of more than ten years and a fine
According to the participants in the trial, Liu Yuansheng's agent ad litem believed that Yi Zhenwu's repeated extortion acts had seriously affected the work and life of Liu Yuansheng and his family, and caused serious mental trauma, and requested the court to pursue Yi Zhenwu's criminal responsibility for extortion and extortion in accordance with the law on the basis of facts and evidence, and to recover 800,000 yuan of extortion funds and return them to the victims in accordance with the law.
When the public prosecutor issued his public prosecution opinion, he held that Yi Zhenwu extorted other people's property and property, the amount was particularly huge, his behavior violated article 274 of the Criminal Law, the facts of the crime were clear, the evidence was credible and sufficient, and he threatened Liu Yuansheng by means of secret recording, so that Liu Yuansheng was afraid of affecting the future of the civil servant's wife, asked for money, and should be investigated for criminal responsibility for the crime of extortion. It is recommended that he be sentenced to more than ten years' imprisonment and fined.
However, Yi Zhenwu's defenders held that Yi Zhenwu subjectively did not have the purpose of "illegal possession", and his use of audio and video to solicit project funds was of a civil coercive nature and did not constitute a threat or threat in the criminal law. Accordingly, the defender pleaded with the court to acquit Yi Zhenwu in accordance with the law.
The personnel participating in the trial said that Yi Zhenwu said in his final statement that his only fault was that he did not know how to ask him to settle according to the law, there may be abnormal channels, there was no way to ask for money, and he did not have a criminal record in the past. He could accept losses, but he could not accept Liu Yuansheng forcing him to lose money.
Yi Zhenwu said that he signed the Settlement Agreement only after being threatened and maliciously delayed, and he also consulted with Liu Yuansheng in accordance with the provisions of Article 6 of the Settlement Agreement. He thought he was forced under the circumstances. He had no purpose in extortion, but only negotiation, and it was Liu Yuansheng who forcibly occupied his legal labor. He should not be guilty of extortion.
Yi Zhenwu's brother Yi Shuang's full name, Zhang Jiahui illegally accepted more than 40 million yuan of property, only to be sentenced to more than ten years. Yi Zhenwu is currently charged with only 2 million yuan (500,000 yuan), and if the sentence is more than 10 years, it is difficult to accept.
In conclusion, the presiding judge stated that through court investigation and debate, the collegial panel will examine the case on the basis of the facts and evidence ascertained at the trial and fully considering the opinions of the prosecution and defense and the agent ad litem. After the collegial panel adjourns the trial for deliberation, it is decided whether to hold the third hearing or choose a date to pronounce the verdict.
Editor-in-Charge: Cui Xuan
Proofreader: Ding Xiao