In March 2022, Mr. Xiang Shujing and Mr. Zhao Xing were assigned by Beijing Legal Aid Center to defend Mr. Li, the appellant (the defendant of the original trial) who was suspected of illegally absorbing public deposits, and through the unremitting efforts of the two attorneys, the verdict of the second trial reduced Mr. Li's illegal proceeds from more than 60 million to more than 20 million, which greatly safeguarded the lawful rights and interests of the beneficiaries.

Brief description of the case

In this case, the public prosecution alleged that the appellant Li Mou and other 24 defendants of the original trial used a business company, etc., in the name of selling commodities, consignment rebate, etc., on the Internet platform to operate the "consumer new industry" and other fund-raising projects, and through the order center, the network, the media, training courses and other channels to the community to publicly advertise the promise of guaranteed payment of interest, and has absorbed more than 260,000 people's funds, totaling more than RMB. Absorption of more than 260,000 people's funds totaling more than RMB 31 billion. Among them, Li Mou participated in the illegal absorption of funds totaling more than RMB 100 million yuan, the public prosecution authorities believe that Li Mou disguised absorption of public deposits, disturbing the financial order, the amount is huge, should be held criminally liable for the crime of illegal absorption of public deposits.

The court of first instance, after hearing, decided that Li Mou committed the crime of illegally absorbing public deposits, sentenced to three years and nine months of imprisonment and a fine of RMB 120,000 yuan, and found that Li Mou obtained the illegal income of more than 61,410,000 yuan.

After the judgment of the first instance, Li had no objection to the conviction and sentence, but only thought that the court of first instance found that his illegal income was inconsistent with the facts, so he appealed.

Lawyer's work

After receiving the assignment from the Legal Aid Center, the contractor lawyer contacted the court of second instance in a timely manner and read the case file. After understanding the basic situation of the case through reading the documents, he actively made an appointment with the detention center to meet with him, but the situation of the epidemic was serious, the meeting was stalled for a while, and taking into account the fact that Li's sentence will be completed and he will soon be released on bail pending trial, the contractor lawyer finally succeeded in meeting with him after he was released on bail pending trial and he further understood the situation of the case and Li's appeal demands.

Combined with the reading and meeting with li mou, the contractor lawyer that, the court of first instance for li mou illegal income is indeed too high, did not take into account li mou is both agent and supplier, he as a supplier and the company's dealings should not be recognized as illegal income, and its from other members to buy points and has transferred the money paid should be deducted from its illegal income.

After determining the defense program, the defense lawyer will guide Li Mou as a supplier and the company's accounts and its accounts with other members on the acquisition of points between the accounts for statistics, go to the bank to retrieve the relevant details of the transfer, to find the relevant members to sign to confirm, etc., and ultimately the collection of new evidence and contractors to the court of lawyers' defense, the court combined with the new evidence submitted by us and the defense of the opinion, commissioned the The court, taking into account the new evidence submitted by us and the opinions of the defenders, commissioned a Beijing accounting firm to issue a "Supplementary Audit Opinion" on November 3, 2022, and organized an online hearing for Li and his defenders, which ultimately reduced Li's unlawful proceeds from more than 60 million yuan to more than 20 million yuan.

Case Insights

Legal aid is a kind of judicial relief system stipulated by the law of our country, which is a legal guarantee for the socially disadvantaged who are difficult to safeguard their basic rights through legal means in the general sense due to economic difficulties and other factors to realize their judicial rights and interests. Undertake legal aid cases, lawyers can not only see the anxiety and helplessness of the people in legal difficulties, but also experience the hardship and difficulty of legal aid case workers. Also let us realize that "efforts to let the people in every judicial case feel fair and just" can not be separated from the lawyers, judges, prosecutors and other legal professionals work together. In this case, it is because of the contractor lawyer and the contractor judge to treat the case cautiously and responsibly, so that the legitimate rights and interests of Li Mou finally got the protection of the law.