King & Capital attorney Liang Yali has got the Procurator’s decision not to pursue prosecution of a major criminal charge, falsification of invoices, brought against one of the firm’s client. The Procurator based the charge on the 2011 8th Amendment to the Criminal Law of China. In a stunning reversal of its attempted prosecution of King & Capital’s client, the Procurator has decided not to pursue the charge after considering Attorney Liang’s memorandum concerning the case. The decision not to prosecute was rare given the severity of the crime for it involves large monetary amounts and courts rarely find defendants innocent. Attorney Liang had proved to the Procurator it would have failed to prove the charge based on the evidence and the law.
In 2017, the Procurator had filed charges against King & Capital’s client Yao for falsifying invoices. It brought the charge under the 2011 8th Amendment to the Criminal Law of China. Under this amendment, the court can sentence a person, if convicted, to imprisonment for falsifying an invoice. The family of Yao engaged King & Capital attorney Liang as counsel to defend Yao in the first's trial instance. A number of matters complicated trial preparation: the charge for falsifying invoices involved a large amount of money, RMB 1.2 billion; the charge concerned a construction project that spanned over a 10-year period; records were voluminous with many missing or incomplete; the key leadership of the project had changed several times (the Chairman and legal representative leadership posts had changed several times); the contracts had undergone arbitration several times; and the many witnesses (over 100 persons) required being interviewed. Procedural complexities resulting from Supreme Procuratorate’s selection of procuratorate from a different province also compounded the case; compounding the case further was the Procuratorate remanding it twice to the police department for further investigation.
After considerable investigation and examination of the evidence, King & Capital attorney Liang concluded that as a matter of law and fact, Yao could not have committed the alleged crime. Yao did not have the corporate authority to commit the alleged crime. Yao was neither the legal representative or chairman of the company nor did he take part in the company’s management or acted as an executive responsible for invoicing the project. The corporate minutes, business registrations and board resolution confirmed this conclusion. Also, attorney Liang concluded Yao had no knowledge or conducted in the invoicing of the project. Her extensive review of the numerous records and documents as well as her countless interviews supported this factual conclusion.
King & Capital attorney Liang Yali provided the Procuratorate an extensive opinion regarding her findings and conclusions. Attorney Liang also conducted extensive negotiations with the Procuratorate. Her findings and conclusions proved that the facts of the crime were unclear, and the evidence did not warrant the prosecution. Also, attorney Liang showed that Yao neither held the authority nor responsible for the conduct, conditions that were required shown in a successful prosecution. The Procuratorate, thus, decided to revoke its prosecution of the case. This proved a major victory for King & Capital’s client Yao.
Attorney Liang Yali
About Attorney Liang Yali
Attorney Liang Yali is an experienced litigation attorney with over ten years of practice. She has developed a wealth of experience handling an extensive range of litigation matters ranging from ordinary litigation to complex litigation matters. She has a deep understanding of both criminal and civil litigation matters and an extensive commercial and corporate law background as she has handled many matters concerning investment, corporate restructuring, liquidation, asset reorganization, real estate and civil construction. Ms. Liang graduated from Northwest University of Politics and Law (LLA) and Suzhou University Law School (LL.M.).
