Shoot a case! Department level officials manipulate "fake lawsuits" to embezzle 300 million public funds from Yueyang | Li Ping | public funds
"Four times, through false litigation or the production of false litigation evidence, a total of RMB 323.356887 million was fraudulently obtained from the Yueyang Economic and Technological Development Zone Management Committee."
On May 29th, the Intermediate People's Court of Yueyang City, Hunan Province publicly announced the first instance verdict on the corruption, bribery, bribery, and illegal absorption of public deposits case involving six individuals, Li Pingping, former director of the Legal Affairs Office of the Yueyang Economic and Technological Development Zone Management Committee.
The picture shows Li Ping and others being tried in the Yueyang Intermediate People's Court. Photo by Han Shuang
With the first instance verdict of this case, a department level official colluded with members of society both internally and externally to illegally embezzle over 300 million yuan of public funds through a "false lawsuit", and the case gradually surfaced.
How does a department level official of a grassroots unit collude with social personnel to embezzle 300 million yuan of public funds?
Fictitious advance funding for basic construction projects
In order to promote the rapid development of the regional economy in Yueyang City, Yueyang Economic and Technological Development Zone was officially established in April 1992. Eight years later, this development zone will be upgraded to a national level economic and technological development zone.
A public official in Yueyang revealed to reporters that in January 2014, Li Ping was appointed as the Director of the Legal Affairs Office of Yueyang Economic Development Zone, a department level official. And his department is mainly responsible for reviewing administrative contracts, economic contracts, and project investment intention letters in Yueyang Economic Development Zone.
Li Ping, who often deals with "government contracts," sees "business opportunities" in it, which involves fabricating that Yueyang Economic Development Zone owes others project construction funds and then asking others to seek "debt" from the government. In Li Ping's view, as long as suitable social personnel are found to cooperate with him, this matter can be done seamlessly.
Ai Daoyi is one of the cooperative partners that Li Ping has found. According to reporters, Ai Daoyi, 55 years old this year, lives in Linxiang City. In 2013, Li Ping approached Ai Daoyi and his brother-in-law Xu Qiuming to discuss fictitious contributions to participate in the construction of a basic project in Yueyang Economic Development Zone.
The investigation by the reporter revealed that Li Ping fabricated a project for Ai Daoyi, which involved dredging, excavation, and leveling of a fish pond in the Yueyang Economic Development Zone park.
The reporter saw that this fictional engineering agreement is called the "Contract Agreement for Advance Payment for Dredging and Earthwork Excavation and Filling". The first party is Yueyanglou Yanhu Comprehensive Development Corporation, and the second party is Ai Daoyi. The signing date is August 20, 1993. The agreement stipulates that Party B, Ai Daoyi, will invest a total of 1.1 million yuan to undertake the dredging, excavation, filling, and leveling of the fish pond; The construction period is 120 days, with a penalty of 500 yuan per day for exceeding the deadline, and a bonus of 500 yuan per day for early completion.
For the settlement of project funds, both parties have agreed on two methods. The first method is for Ai Daoyi to advance the project construction funds for this project. As the funds are high interest loans from multiple partners of Ai Daoyi, Party A will calculate a monthly interest rate of 3 cents to Ai Daoyi during the later settlement as investment return. The principal and interest will be calculated until the date of payment, and the payment period will be within 6 months from the date of on-site acceptance of the project and Party B's mechanical withdrawal. A penalty of 20% of the payable principal and interest shall be paid for overdue payments. If payment is made in installments, the interest should be offset first. The second method: In view of the need for investment attraction, Party B has solved the financial difficulties of Party A. Party A will use the land acquired (Zhengdi Zi No. 165) located in the development and construction of Dongfeng Lake to offset Party B's investment principal and interest at a rate of 50000 yuan per acre.
Suing the government for embezzlement of over 20 million yuan
The reporter from "Legal Weekend" noticed that after the completion of the "fish pond dredging, excavation and filling, and leveling project", some fictitious acceptance and settlement commitment letters have also been forged to be "real and real".
On December 18, 1993, the Management Committee of Yueyang Tower along the Lake Comprehensive Development Zone issued a notice of engineering acceptance and mechanical removal to Ai Daoyi, stating that Party B had completed all engineering tasks in good condition, with excellent quality and qualified acceptance. It was agreed that the machinery would be removed immediately; The notice also states that if Party B completes the project 6 days in advance, a reward of 3000 yuan will be given according to the agreement, which will be included in Party B's investment amount and paid together. Interest will be calculated at a monthly rate of 3 cents before payment, or it can be offset according to the agreement.
On October 18, 1994, the Management Committee of Yueyang Tower Along the Lake Comprehensive Development Zone issued a meeting minutes on Ai Daoyi's request to deliver land for real estate development, which stated: "As of December 20, 1994, Ai Daoyi's investment principal and interest amounted to 1.496 million yuan, and the bonus principal and interest amounted to 4080 yuan, totaling 1.5 million yuan. After multiple efforts, Ai Daoyi agreed to choose to use land to offset the investment principal and interest. The Management Committee of Yueyang Tower Along the Lake Comprehensive Development Zone also promised that if the land certificate cannot be processed according to the agreement, the land cannot be delivered, when will 30 acres of land be sold, and the land transfer fee will all belong to Ai Daoyi. Starting from December this year, 1.5 million yuan will be transferred to Ai Daoyi." Starting from the 20th of the month, the land will be re calculated at a monthly interest rate of 3 points until the date of processing the land certificate
On August 11, 1999, Yueyang Tower along the Lake Comprehensive Development Zone was merged into Yueyang Economic Development Zone. On November 20th of the same year, the Management Committee of Yueyanglou Lake Comprehensive Development Zone confirmed the debt list, which stated: "I owe 30 acres of commercial development land to Ai Daoyi."
During this period, Yueyang Economic Development Zone has repeatedly replied to Ai Daoyi, stating that all affairs of the management committee of the development zone along the lake will be undertaken by Yueyang Economic Development Zone, and the obligations of the original "Contract Agreement for Advance Payment for Dredging and Excavation of Earthworks" will be undertaken and continue to take effect by Yueyang Economic Development Zone; If the land ownership certificate cannot be processed, Yueyang Economic Development Zone will compensate Ai Daoyi for the investment return based on the land transfer price.
On July 20, 2009, Yueyang Economic Development Zone once again replied to Ai Daoyi regarding the arrears of "project construction funds": "Some information is lost, and we will fulfill the promises of previous governments."
After years of unsuccessful attempts to demand "debt", Ai Daoyi began "legal rights protection". In September 2015, Ai Daoyi sued Yueyang Economic Development Zone to the Yueyang Intermediate People's Court. Requesting the court to order Yueyang Economic Development Zone to apply for a one-time 30 acre commercial land planning and land ownership certificate within the scope of Dongfeng Lake Fishing Ground, north of Donghu Road and west of Bund Road, and to bear all certification fees and other expenses; If the above-mentioned land no longer exists and cannot be delivered, the court is requested to order Yueyang Economic Development Zone to pay the corresponding consideration for the existing market value of the 30 acres of land and pay a 10% penalty as promised.
The reporter learned that during the trial of the case, the defendant in Yueyang Economic Development Zone questioned the authenticity of the official seal used in Ai Daoyi's evidence materials and applied to the court to verify the authenticity of the seal. The court entrusted the Hunan Provincial Forensic Appraisal Center to verify the authenticity of the official seal, and found that it was genuine.
After the trial by the Yueyang Intermediate People's Court, it was found that the promise made by Yueyang Economic Development Zone to deliver 30 acres of land to Ai Daoyi violated legal provisions and should be deemed invalid. But the commitment of Yueyang Economic Development Zone to pay the amount and bear a penalty of 10% of the transfer price is valid if it does not violate legal provisions. Considering the fact that the promised expiration date in this case is around June 2009, with a time difference of more than one year from the actual transfer date, and the land price has been increasing year by year, the court has decided to pay Ai Daoyi a price of 830000 yuan/mu x 30=24.9 million yuan in Yueyang Economic Development Zone. Also pay a penalty of 2.49 million yuan to Ai Daoyi at 10% of the amount.
On February 28, 2017, the Yueyang Intermediate People's Court sentenced Yueyang Economic Development Zone to pay 27.39 million yuan to Ai Daoyi and bear 180000 yuan in litigation costs in the first instance. After the judgment came into effect, on April 1, 2017, Yueyang Economic Development Zone paid 27.57 million yuan in execution funds to the Yueyang Intermediate People's Court account. The court deducted more than 370000 yuan of litigation fees that Ai Daoyi should bear from the above-mentioned funds, and the remaining 27.19 million yuan was fully paid to Ai Daoyi's bank account.
At this point, a false lawsuit case involving false participation in government projects and fraudulently obtaining over 27 million yuan in public funds has been concluded.
The owner of a small restaurant becomes a "string puppet"
Just as Ai Daoyi thought the dust of this "fake lawsuit" had settled, with the investigation of Li Ping, the false lawsuit involving a particularly large amount of money began to emerge.
On April 20, 2019, the public security organs discovered the clue of this suspected false lawsuit during the investigation of a criminal case involving Li Ping and others. The public security organs submitted the relevant clues to the Yueyang Intermediate People's Court for review. After examination by the Yueyang Intermediate People's Court, the case was retried and found to be a false lawsuit.
The reporter's investigation revealed that Ai Daoyi was just the owner of a local small restaurant when signing the "construction agreement". In the operation of this false lawsuit case, Ai Daoyi became Li Ping's "string puppet", and his participation in the litigation activities was instructed by Li Ping.
During the retrial, Ai Daoyi admitted to the court that he and his brother-in-law Xu Qiuming did not actually participate in the construction of the project in question. The "Contract Agreement for Advance Payment for Dredging and Earthwork Excavation and Filling" was signed by Li Ping and his brother-in-law Xu Qiuming in 2013. Other relevant materials and claims reports were provided by Li Ping and were copied by Li Ping. Under Li Ping's instructions and arrangements, he filed a lawsuit, and the evidence submitted to the court was forged by him and Li Ping later.
The retrial of the Yueyang Intermediate People's Court believes that the facts presented by the plaintiff Ai Daoyi in court and the defendant Yueyang Economic and Technological Development Zone in the original trial prove that the plaintiff Ai Daoyi did not actually undertake the involved project, and the evidence submitted in the original trial was forged by him and Li Ping later. The plaintiff Ai Daoyi in the original trial does not have the main identity of the involved project and is not a qualified plaintiff in this case. Therefore, their lawsuit should be rejected.
On October 15, 2019, the Yueyang Intermediate People's Court revoked the civil judgment made by the court, "Yue Zhong Min Yi Chu Zi No. 49", and dismissed the lawsuit filed by the original plaintiff Ai Daoyi.
After the truth of this "fake lawsuit" was revealed, Yueyang Economic Development Zone applied to the court for a reversal of execution funds of 27.57 million yuan. The execution funds of over 20 million yuan that had previously been transferred to Ai Daoyi's account have all been transferred. During the execution, the court found that at this time, Ai Daoyi had become a "seven no personnel", namely no bank deposits, no real estate registration information, no securities, no online funds, no motor vehicles, no external investment, and no record of provident fund deposits.
After repeated searches by the court, it was found that on June 3, 2020, the court only obtained 61885.5 yuan of insurance funds available for execution under the name of Ai Daoyi from a certain insurance company. In addition, there is currently no other property under the name of Ai Daoyi available for execution.
Misappropriation of 300 million public funds sentenced to death with a reprieve
The investigation by reporters found that Ai Daoyi was only one of the characters who cooperated with Li Ping to embezzle public funds.
After trial and investigation by the Yueyang Intermediate People's Court, it was found that from 2013 to 2017, during his tenure as the Director and Director of the Legal Affairs Office of the Yueyang Economic Development Zone Office, Li Ping took advantage of his position in handling cases related to legal petitions and lawsuits, and colluded with Li Hongxu, Zhang Jinbo, Liu Xinhua, Ai Daoyi, and Yao Gang four times to defraud Yueyang Economic Development Zone of a total of RMB 323.356887 million through false litigation or the production of false litigation evidence, including RMB 70.893575 million for completed cases and RMB 25.2463312 million for attempted cases. It was also found that in July 2013, Li Ping and Li Hongxu used their positions to fabricate litigation evidence, seeking unfair benefits for Zhang Jinbo, and then demanded property from him. From October 2014 to January 2016, Li Hongxu requested Li Ping and others to provide assistance in the litigation case with Yueyang Economic and Technological Development Zone on behalf of him, and later provided benefits. From October 2015 to February 2016, Zhang Jinbo, while serving as the legal representative of Yiyang Hengbang Company, directly participated in the illegal absorption of 2.11 million yuan in public deposits.
The Yueyang Intermediate People's Court believes that Li Ping, as a state official, took advantage of his position and colluded with five other defendants to embezzle public property, with a particularly large amount of money. His behavior has constituted the crime of corruption. The defendants Li Ping, Li Hongxu, and Zhang Jinbo have started to commit the crime of joint corruption, but due to reasons beyond their will, some of the crimes were not successful, which is considered an attempted crime. The defendants Li Ping and Li Hongxu took advantage of Li Ping's position to illegally accept other people's property and seek benefits for others, and their actions constituted the crime of bribery. The defendants Li Hongxu and Zhang Jinbo, in order to seek illegitimate benefits, provided property to state officials, and their behavior has constituted the crime of bribery. The defendant Zhang Jinbo violated national financial management regulations by illegally absorbing public deposits, disrupting financial order, with a huge amount of money involved. His behavior also constitutes the crime of illegally absorbing public deposits.
The Yueyang Intermediate People's Court ruled in the first instance that the defendant Li Ping was guilty of corruption and bribery, and was punished for multiple crimes. He was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve, deprived of political rights for life, and sentenced to confiscation of all personal property. After the two-year reprieve of his death sentence was completed, he was sentenced to life imprisonment in accordance with the law, and his sentence could not be commuted or paroled. The defendant Li Hongxu committed the crimes of corruption, bribery, and bribery, while the defendant Zhang Jinbo committed the crimes of corruption, bribery, and illegal absorption of public deposits. He was punished for multiple crimes and sentenced to life imprisonment, deprivation of political rights for life, and confiscation of all personal property; The defendants Liu Xinhua, Ai Daoyi, and Yao Gang committed the crime of corruption and were respectively sentenced to ten years in prison, eight years in prison, and five years in prison, with fines.
