Zhao is a well-known farmer-entrepreneur in a certain place, and his establishment of enterprises to plant trees and forests to rectify the desert and lead farmers to get rich has been reported by many media. In February 2022, on suspicion of bribery, misappropriation of public funds (accomplice) Zhao was transferred to the procuratorial authorities for examination and prosecution. The authorities found that Zhao's enterprise in the process of undertaking a number of state-subsidized reforestation projects, and the county forestry and grassland bureau cashier Lin collusion, in the case of not yet meet the conditions of the payment of money, allegedly misappropriation of public funds of more than 34.5 million yuan; Zhao also paid a bribe of more than 1.23 million yuan to Lin.
The defendant's family went to Beijing and came to King&Capital, and King&Capital assigned senior partner Wang Jiuchuan and Zhang Qiming to form a defense team to defend Zhao Moumou.
Through the work of the team of lawyers, the following results were achieved: at the stage of prosecution, the prosecution reduced the amount of misappropriation of public funds by 7 million yuan; at the stage of the first trial, the prosecution withdrew the charge of bribery, and reached the goal of acquittal; at the stage of the second trial, the court of second instance reduced the amount of misappropriation of public funds by 17,910,000 yuan. The court of second instance finally found that the misappropriation of public funds amounted to 9.59 million yuan, and the sentence of Zhao was reduced accordingly.
One
Review and prosecution stage after many communications, the prosecution reduced the amount of misappropriation of public funds by 7 million yuan
In the review and prosecution stage, the lawyer team fully understand the facts of the case, analyze and study the case file on the basis of the establishment of Zhao Moumou do not guilty of the work of the idea of defense. The defense team communicated with the procuratorial authorities on six occasions, clarified the core points and reasons, and requested the procuratorial authorities to supplement the key evidence.
In the end, the procuratorial authorities agreed to misappropriation of 7 million yuan part of the facts are not recognized, suspected of bribery, misappropriation of public funds (27.5 million yuan) to prosecute, and bribery is recommended to be sentenced to five years and six months of imprisonment, misappropriation of public funds is recommended to be sentenced to six years of imprisonment.
Second
During the first instance trial, the defense team focused their efforts and the prosecuting authority withdrew the charge of active bribery.
During the first instance trial, the defense team carried out the following work:
First, based on Zhao's innocence, he has applied for bail several times to wait for trial;
Second, for the key evidence kept in the County Forestry and Grassland Bureau, the defense team repeatedly applied to the court for access to evidence;
Third, applying for key witnesses to appear in court, repeatedly communicating with the trial authorities to clarify the reasons for appearing in court;
Fourth, the defense team retrieved some of the evidence materials on its own and submitted them to the court:
Fifth, the defense team made a thorough questioning outline for the defendants and witnesses, hoping that the key facts of the case could be broken through in the trial;
Sixth, we communicated with the trial and prosecution authorities on the doubtful issues of the case for many times, and clarified the reasons and purposes of the defense before the trial.
The case was first heard in September 2022. After the defense team's court questioning, the allegations of active and passive bribery changed significantly, and the court of first instance decided to adjourn the case after adjournment for discussion and continued the investigation.
After more than four months of investigation, the court trial resumed in February 2023, the prosecution withdrew the charge of active bribery in court, and this trial centered around the crime of misappropriation of public funds. The defense team still insisted on making a plea of not guilty, and deeply elucidated the facts of the case by questioning the witnesses who applied to appear in court and submitting new evidence.
The court of first instance found that Zhao Moumou and Lin Moumou jointly misappropriated public funds of 27.5 million yuan was established, and sentenced Zhao Moumou to six years' imprisonment for the crime of misappropriation of public funds, and Zhao Moumou filed an appeal.
Three
During the second trial, the defense team made further efforts, and the court of second instance found that the amount of misappropriation of public funds was significantly reduced.
During the second trial, the defense team went into the local area to retrieve a number of new evidence to the court of second instance, submitted an application for a hearing, and through repeated communication hope that the court of second instance to open the trial. 2023 May court of second instance to open the trial of the case, the court hearing Zhang Qiming lawyers of the facts of misappropriation of public funds one by one to rebut the facts.
On June 2, 2023, the court of second instance adopted part of the defense team's opinion in the final judgment, for 17.91 million yuan of the misappropriation of public funds was not found, the remaining 9.59 million yuan was found to constitute the crime of misappropriation of public funds, the defendant Zhao Moumou's sentence was adjusted to five years and nine months of imprisonment.
This case was handled during the most serious period of the epidemic, the defense team went back and forth several times and was quarantined, for the acquittal of the defendant Zhao Moumou to pay the hard work, and finally Zhao Moumou's bribery charges were not found, the goal of the acquittal of the crime of bribery defense was reached; embezzlement of public funds was reduced to one-fourth of the original amount.
(This article was written by: paralegal Eddie Dai Sheng)
