I got ZB’s first “Receipt of Acceptance of Case”, but I could only let him get away with it.

[Introduction]

Tell me a story, it was officially a thunderstorm in ZB The week before, we reported the crime and got the criminal "acceptance receipt" as soon as possible, but nothing happened! ZB has still become an "outlaw gangster"! No matter how chaotic the currency circle is, the "leeks" will always be injured. On the one hand, a bunch of currency exchanges that were not exposed to thunder were put under investigation, resulting in Leek losing all his money. On the other hand, ZB Exchange has cut tens of billions of leeks, but the case has not been filed so far. The leeks have even gone to Huabo’s hometown to “send wreaths and dig ancestral graves,” but the case still cannot be filed. As a lawyer who reported the ZB case before the thunderstorm, and was the first lawyer in China to obtain the "Receipt of Acceptance" for the ZB case only two weeks after the thunderstorm, Attorney Guo will break the news to you today about the ZB thunder case. Think carefully about the horrifying facts and analyze why ZB became an "outlaw gangster".

1. The whole process of case handling (from "accepting the case" to "no criminal facts")

On August 2, 2022, ZB Exchange suddenly issued an announcement saying that it had encountered a malfunction and stopped deposit and withdrawal services, causing an uproar in the currency circle. However, what everyone doesn’t know is that in early July 2022, Lawyer Guo had already received a commission on the case of being unable to withdraw currency from the cryptocurrency financial management project "bitbank" owned by the same owner as ZB. The amount involved was converted into RMB worth 8 number of digits. At that time, Lawyer Guo was still full of confidence. After all, even if bitbank could not withdraw the currency, as long as the ZB exchange was still there, the currency would be there, and as long as the currency was there, that would be fine. However, reality slapped you in the face. ZB went bankrupt just after taking the first step. This case also became one of the few failed cases in which lawyer Guo represented money refund cases!

After that, we checked the domestic office locations (already run away), on-chain data (the coins have been transferred away), chat records, and website information notarization (this point It's very important. Even if the server is shut down now, we still have the collection and sorting of evidence from that time, as well as the preparation of legal documents such as report materials. On July 27, 2022, Lawyer Guo accompanied the client to file a criminal complaint with the Nanshan Branch of the Shenzhen Municipal Public Security Bureau. The crimes involved included fraud, fund-raising fraud, illegal business operations, illegal absorption of public deposits, and illegal use of information networks. . The facts involved in the case include not only the criminal charges against the person in charge of the bitbank project, but also the criminal report against ZB Exchange (asking Du Niang who can’t distinguish between reporting, accusation and reporting). As for why so many crimes were reported, we will see later. Half share.

Now we can draw the first important point: after initially reporting the case, the case-handling agency did not issue us a "Case Acceptance Receipt" in accordance with legal provisions. It was not until after some complaints and in-depth communication that I received the "Acceptance Receipt" on August 19.

Of course, even on August 19, Lawyer Guo became the first lawyer in China to successfully obtain the result of the ZB case. What's interesting is that at this point in time, many leeks are still fantasizing that ZB can be brought back to life and are opposed to others reporting the crime. After all, ZB’s announcement was just a “technical glitch”, not an official announcement.

However, the good times did not last long. After more than two months of unremitting efforts by the case handling agency, including but not limited to summoning boss Li, a veteran cadre in the currency circle, and several other people related to ZB. A "Notice of Not Filing a Case" was actually issued, and the reason was stated as "no criminal facts". What? No criminal facts? Not to mention bitbank, a project that is unknown to most people, if you ask Du Niang about the facts about ZB alone, you can find out a lot of the behaviors involved. So Lawyer Guo submitted a reconsideration and review of the criminal case to the case-handling unit and the superior case-handling unit, and the conclusion was still that "there are no criminal facts." Finally, he applied to the Nanshan District Procuratorate for case filing supervision, but the result remained the same.

With so many case-handling units, is the conclusion that "there are no criminal facts" correct? Let’s listen to Lawyer Guo’s detailed analysis.

2. Legal Analysis (In the absence of law, "profit-seeking law enforcement" has no choice)

First of all, Lawyer Guo first gave his conclusion: Whether it is whether the ZB case is filed or not, or whether other currency cases constitute crimes, the root of the problem comes from the lack of existing legal provisions.

So, this is why Lawyer Guo listed so many crimes when reporting the case (in theory, the same legal fact only constitutes one crime). It is to promote the successful filing of the case as much as possible. After all, as long as a crime is suspected, the case should be filed. As for the specific crime, it is a matter for the public authorities. Of course, when reporting a crime normally, it is still recommended not to list charges so casually. Therefore, among all the crimes, Lawyer Guo also has a "certain" crime, which is the crime of illegal use of information networks. Next, we will analyze one by one what makes ZB an "outlaw gangster".

(1) Why the case handling unit does not believe that bitbank and ZB constitute illegal fund-raising crimes

Illegal fund-raising crimes, generally speaking, are the crime of fund-raising fraud and the crime of illegally absorbing public deposits. The most important feature is the formation of a capital pool.

As its name suggests, Bitbank is a "Bitcoin bank" that deposits coins and earns interest. ZB Exchange also takes into account the role of a wallet. And whether it is the QC coin it released or helping various altcoins conduct ICO projects, 99% of them meet the characteristics of illegal fund-raising crimes. However, the focus of the 1% lies precisely in the qualitative differences between local judicial authorities as to whether “virtual currency” is an object of illegal fund-raising.

According to the relevant provisions of the "Criminal Law" and its judicial interpretations, non-sucking objects can only be funds (that is, they can be used for production and operation or daily life, legal Valid legal tender or securities, etc.). Therefore, whether virtual currencies are funds is where serious disagreements arise in the current judicial practice community.

From the perspective of the defender, of course they will argue that virtual currency does not belong to "funds", and from the perspective of the prosecution, of course they will argue that virtual currency does not belong to "funds" ". But when it comes to whether the public security organ files a case, it is a particularly "delicate" angle. If the public security organ "want" to file a case, it will be considered as funds, and vice versa. As a result, there have been cases involving cryptocurrency wallets and virtual currency exchanges. In some places, they have been convicted and sentenced for the crime of fund-raising fraud or illegal absorption of public deposits (judgments for similar cases can be found in Lawyer Guo’s past content) (find), and some are like the case of ZB.

(2) Why the case handling unit does not believe that bitbank and ZB constitute fraud

Fraud is a property crime in the classification of criminal law. Like theft, embezzlement and other crimes, they all need to rely on "property value assessment" as the basis for conviction and sentencing.

However, in the "Notice on Preventing Bitcoin Risks", "Announcement on Preventing Token Issuance Financing Risks" and "On Further Preventing and Dealing with Virtual Currency Transaction Speculation" Notification of Risks" and other "policy documents" of ministries and commissions have repeatedly emphasized that virtual currencies are not legal tender and related business activities are prohibited, as well as the Supreme Law Guiding Case No. 199, "China Procuratorate" Under the "argument" of judicial academic opinions in the practical community such as "China Trial", there is great controversy as to whether virtual currencies have value and whether they can be "price determined."

To put it simply, if the case-handling unit does not want to file a case, it can refuse to file the case on the grounds that virtual currency cannot conduct price determination. On the contrary, it can reject the case on the grounds that virtual currency can conduct price determination. Price determination is carried out for investigation. It’s funny to say that the virtual currency represented by USDT has almost become a priority settlement tool in some industries (such as foreign trade, gold and other industries), and the judicial practice community even denies its price. Seriously disrespectful of reality. I’ll talk about this later, so I won’t waste any space today.

(3) Why the case handling unit does not believe that bitbank and ZB constitute illegal business crimes

Whether it is the "Announcement on Preventing Financing Risks of Token Issuance" or the "Notice on Further Preventing and Dealing with the Risks of Speculation in Virtual Currency Transactions", it is expressly prohibited to open virtual currency exchanges, and it is prohibited to sell tokens or Virtual currency provides pricing, information intermediary and other services. In addition, the bitbank project also includes mining projects, and mining will be identified as an obsolete industry in 2021. Do many people take it for granted that it constitutes an illegal business crime?

However, the biggest fundamental difference between illegal business operations as an administrative penalty and illegal business operations as a criminal offense is whether it is clearly stipulated by law or judicial interpretation, or Whether it falls within the scope of business prohibited by state regulations. It is a pity that both the "94 Proclamation" and the "924 Notice" are only policy documents, not legal regulations. This point is not controversial in most areas.

Then why does Attorney Guo still include the crime of illegal business operations? Because Lawyer Guo has successfully filed similar cases before, and it was also in Shenzhen. As the victim’s attorney, why not give it a try? It is the duty of an attorney to seize every opportunity within the legal scope to protect the legitimate rights and interests of the client. Do you want your lawyer to stand in the other party’s perspective and speak for the other party every day?

(4) Why the case handling unit does not believe that bitbank and ZB constitute the crime of illegal use of information networks

Please mark the second key point: To be honest, lawyer Guo still has not figured out why the case handling unit does not believe that bitbank and ZB constitute the crime of illegal use of information networks. I asked the case handling unit several times but received no direct answer. Here, if the case handling unit can see this article, please reply to it.

According to Article 287-1 of the "Criminal Law": "Whoever uses information networks to commit one of the following acts, if the circumstances are serious, shall be sentenced to three years The following persons shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment or criminal detention, in addition to or solely to a fine: (1) Establishing websites or communication groups for committing fraud, teaching criminal methods, making or selling prohibited items, controlled items and other illegal and criminal activities; (2) Publishing Relevant to the production or sale of drugs, guns, obscene materials and other prohibited items, controlled items or other illegal and criminal information; (3) Releasing information for the purpose of committing fraud and other illegal and criminal activities. If a unit commits the crime in the preceding paragraph, the unit shall be fined and The person in charge and other directly responsible persons who are directly responsible for it shall be punished in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 1. If the acts in the first two paragraphs are committed and constitute other crimes, they shall be convicted and punished in accordance with the provisions of heavier penalties." At the same time, according to the "On Handling Illegal Utilization" Article 7 of the Interpretation of Several Issues Applicable to Laws in Criminal Cases such as Information Networks and Assisting Information Network Criminal Activities": "The 'illegal crimes' specified in Article 287-1 of the Criminal Law include criminal acts and those falling under the sub-provisions of the Criminal Law. It is an illegal act that stipulates the type of behavior but does not constitute a crime."

Whether it is the official website of bitbank, the official website of ZB and the app page, there is a large amount of promotion of virtual currency ICO , financial management or mining and other related illegal projects, there are already many altcoins and Dogecoins, which have been convicted and sentenced by courts in various places. Theoretically speaking, one cannot escape the crime of illegal use of information networks. However, after review, review, and case filing supervision by the case-handling agencies at all levels, they still believe that "there are no criminal facts" and do not directly respond to the specific reasons. It is really puzzling. Is it because ZB already has "hands and eyes that can reach the sky"? Once again, I hope that the case handling unit can reply if they see this article.

3. There are currently serious profit-seeking law enforcement issues in currency circle cases

Everyone knows that the probability of innocent cases in China is extremely low. However, in recent years, Attorney Guo has successfully defended a large number of criminal cases in the cryptocurrency industry. The probability of acquittal was more than half, which Lawyer Guo himself felt was exaggerated. However, Lawyer Guo had no time to feel proud, because what Lawyer Guo saw more was the lack of laws in the currency circle and the problem of "profit-seeking law enforcement" in cases.

Through the above analysis, we can easily see that in addition to the crime of illegal use of information networks and the crime of illegal business operations. Whether it is a pyramid scheme crime, an illegal fund-raising crime, or a property crime, the case-handling agency has a huge "right of choice" on whether to file a case.

This "right to choose independently" may be based on the organizer's "free conscience" based on his knowledge structure and the actual situation. It may also be due to the non-explicit “local financial factors” (the assets confiscated in criminal cases are disposed of by the local finance), “personal relationship factors” (in some cases, it is obvious that the person in charge of the case “protects” the reporter) and “case-handling factors”. Stress factors” (one less case opened means one less case handled), etc.

Returning to the ZB case, why has no case been opened for investigation in any place across the country so far? Lawyer Guo thinks it’s not just because of legal deficiencies, right? Is it possible that the actual controller of the ZB wallet address such as Boss Hua is not in the country? Is it possible that ZB’s wallet address cannot carry out effective restriction measures? Isn't it possible that handling ZB's case will bear the pressure of hundreds of thousands of domestic reporters? Or do you sincerely look down on a group of "stinky leeks" who speculate in money?

Finally, Lawyer Guo made a bold prediction: If Boss Hua returns to China with his wallet, it should be that the case handling agencies in various places speed up the progress of ZB case filing and compete for It’s time for jurisdiction. Of course, Shenzhen, where ZB’s actual office is, may not join the battle for jurisdiction. The amount involved by ZB is only tens of billions. Compared with the financial revenue of Greater Shenzhen, it is simply a drop in the bucket.

IV. Conclusion

As a senior lawyer in the currency circle , Lawyer Guo actually often receives a lot of first-hand information about the currency circle. But as a lawyer, from the perspective of professional ethics, Lawyer Guo will never make this information public (so there is no need to ask me for anything), and the cases are issued after the fact and anonymously. After all, the parties are looking for lawyers. , not the media. The reason why the relevant details of the ZB case are disclosed this time is also authorized by the client. At the same time, Lawyer Guo does not want to use public opinion to influence the judiciary. This case has been "finalized" by the judicial relief channels that all parties can initiate. In theory, public opinion will no longer affect the fair handling of this case.

The fundamental purpose of Lawyer Guo writing this article is not to criticize the agency handling the ZB case (of course it does not mean that he agrees with the agency handling the ZB case). Lawyer Guo’s fundamental purpose is to hope that the legislative and judicial authorities can pay attention to the chaos in currency circles and promulgate relevant legal regulations as soon as possible, so as to effectively resolve social conflicts and enable the people to enjoy every case. The fairness and justice brought by the judiciary should not allow "ignorant" citizens to participate in illegal currency projects, let "intentional" local units carry out "profit-seeking law enforcement" on currency cases, and let "unscrupulous" currency projects The Fang took advantage of loopholes in judicial and law enforcement to harvest domestic assets.