Zhang Wanping was sentenced to 18 years in first instance and illegally raised 700 million yuan under the pretext of investing in the construction of elderly care apartments. | Sentence | Zhang Wanping
This morning, the First Intermediate People's Court of Shanghai publicly announced the defendant Zhang Wanping's case of fundraising fraud in accordance with the law. Zhang Wanping was sentenced to 15 years in prison for the crime of fundraising fraud, deprived of political rights for 4 years, and fined 5 million yuan. He was also sentenced to 5 years in prison and fined 300000 yuan for the previous crime of falsely issuing value-added tax special invoices. He was also sentenced to 18 years in prison, deprived of political rights for 4 years, and fined 5.3 million yuan.
In June 2014, Shanghai Weishi Industrial Group Co., Ltd. and its affiliated companies suffered a capital chain rupture due to operating losses and illegal sales of four industrial buildings on Changgu Road. In order to repay their debts, Zhang Wanping and Zhang Weihua, knowing that the Changgu Road factory had not yet obtained a permit for elderly care institutions, publicly claimed "government support" and concealed the fact that Weishi Group and its affiliated enterprises had huge debts. They used Shanghai Jukang Financial Information Service Co., Ltd., Shanghai Liangfeng Financial Information Service Co., Ltd., and Yixu Co., Ltd. as financing platforms to attract executives and employees to set up multiple stores in this city and Jiangsu, using methods such as distributing advertisements, organizing wine parties, and word-of-mouth transmission. Shanghai Weishi Information Technology Co., Ltd., Shanghai Weishi Elderly Care Home Co., Ltd., and other affiliated companies signed annualized returns with investors under the name of investing in the Changgu Road elderly care apartment project. Loan agreements with a rate ranging from 7% to 17% are used to raise funds from the public and allow Weishi Group to provide guarantees for the repayment of principal and interest on investment funds at maturity.
According to the audit, from August 2014 to February 2018, Weishi Group illegally raised more than 700 million yuan from over 2000 investors, resulting in actual economic losses of over 440 million yuan to the victims.
The Shanghai Intermediate People's Court believes that Zhang Wanping, as the directly responsible supervisor of Weishi Group, used fraudulent methods to illegally raise funds for the purpose of illegal possession, and the amount involved was huge. His behavior has constituted the crime of fundraising fraud. Zhang Wanping's illegal fundraising behavior has caused significant economic losses to the victims and seriously disrupted the national financial order. Based on the facts, nature, circumstances, and degree of social harm in this case, the above judgment is made in accordance with the law.
The judicial authorities in this city will continue to strengthen the recovery and recovery of assets involved in the case.