Benefiting enterprises, warming enterprises and popularizing laws first

[Introduction] In April this year, the Anhui Provincial Law Publicity Office, together with 12 units including the Provincial Party Committee Propaganda Department, the Provincial Party Committee Cyber Information Office, the Provincial High Court, and the Provincial Procuratorate, deployed a law popularization activity with the theme of "benefiting enterprises, warming enterprises and popularizing laws first" in the province.

In order to strengthen case interpretation and give full play to the leading and exemplary role of typical cases, the Anhui Provincial Procuratorate has selected some typical cases to further strengthen the publicity of the rule of law for enterprises and deepen the rule of law for enterprises. The second issue is launched today: Punishment of Bribery ——The bribery case of Wang to non state staff.

Wang Mou vs African Countries Staff bribery case

In the financial field, the supervision and inspection department cooperates in pleading guilty and pleading guilty to punishment for offering bribes to non-state employees to hold real estate on behalf

Supervisory organs and procuratorial organs have strengthened the connection and cooperation, resolutely implemented the major decision and deployment of the CPC Central Committee to investigate bribery together, severely punished the huge amount of illegal and criminal acts of bribery in the financial field according to law, formed joint efforts to punish bribery crimes, jointly prevented and resolved major risks in the financial field, and served to ensure the healthy development of the economy and society. The procuratorial organ shall actively implement the criminal justice policy of tempering justice with mercy when handling the review and prosecution cases. If the criminal suspect sincerely repents, voluntarily pleads guilty and pleads guilty to punishment and meets the applicable conditions, the lenient system of pleading guilty and pleading guilty to punishment shall be applied in accordance with the law.

Basic Case

Defendant Wang, male, Han nationality, born in August 1962, is the actual controller of an Anhui Financing Guarantee Co., Ltd.

During the period from October 2016 to March 2020, the defendant Wang, in order to seek illegitimate interests, in order to thank and continue to obtain the care of Gu, the former secretary of the Party committee and chairman of a bank in Anhui, for his company in terms of guarantee, loan approval, non-performing loan resolution, etc., gave Gu a total of 21.59 million yuan, of which 20.46 million yuan was given to Gu in five times, It is used to purchase three houses for Gu and pay property management fees. In order to cover up the actual property owner of the house, according to Gu's arrangement, the defendant Wang registered three houses in the name of three relatives of Gu, and signed a house holding agreement, which was handed over to Gu for unified custody.

The case of Wang Mou suspected of offering bribes to non state functionaries was put on file by a county supervisory committee for investigation and transferred to a county people's procuratorate for examination and prosecution. In February 2021, the People's Procuratorate of a county initiated a public prosecution to the People's Court of a county on the basis that Wang was suspected of offering bribes to non state workers. The trial was held in public on March 15, 2021. On May 6 of the same year, the People's Court of a county made a judgment, adopted the sentencing recommendation of the procuratorial organ, and sentenced the defendant Wang to four years and two months of imprisonment for committing the crime of offering bribes to non state workers, And a fine of one million yuan.

（1） We will use the mechanism of supervision, inspection and consultation to comprehensively promote the investigation and handling of bribery cases. In the process of investigating the bribery case of the chairman of a bank in Anhui province who is not a state functionary, the county supervisory committee found that Wang was suspected of committing bribery against non state functionaries, and the amount was huge. At the request of a county's supervisory committee, the procuratorial organ intervened in the case in advance and considered that Wang constituted a crime of bribery against non state staff, and put forward feedback on further finding out the facts, improving evidence, coercive measures, and accurately identifying the improper interests of the briber. At the same time, in view of the application of the lenient punishment system for Wang's confession of guilt, the procuratorial organ fully listened to the opinions of the supervisory organ, and timely reported to the supervisory organ on the sentencing suggestions, so as to achieve the joint force in combating bribery crimes.

（2） Strict evidence system and strict grasp of case quality. Wang is suspected of offering bribes to non state staff with huge amount of money. In terms of the way of benefit transmission, the flow of funds involved in the case is complicated, and some bribery facts are covered up with the illusion of borrowing and returning; In order to avoid investigation and punishment, Mr. Wang converted most of the funds of bribery into real estate, which was held by the relatives of Mr. Gu, the briber. The means of committing the crime were concealed and professional, which increased the difficulty of case fact determination and evidence review and analysis. The supervisory and procuratorial organs strictly control the facts and evidence of the case, starting with the objective evidence such as the source and trend of funds, seize the core of using loans for personal gain, focus on abnormal decision-making matters, sort out and clarify the relevant capital flow, and build a strict evidence system to ensure that the facts of the case are clear and the evidence is true and sufficient, Wang was seriously investigated by law for his suspected bribery of non state staff.

（3） Strengthen legal interpretation and reasoning, and promote voluntary confession of guilt and punishment. In the stage of review and prosecution, in view of Wang's repeated thoughts, the procuratorial organ fully interpreted the law and reasoned, prompted him to gradually change his attitude towards confession, and finally truthfully and stably confessed all the facts of bribery, and expressed his willingness to plead guilty and accept punishment. The procuratorial organ explained the circumstances and legal basis of sentencing to the defense lawyer in detail, and decided to give lenient sentencing suggestions because of comprehensive consideration of Wang's contribution to local employment in the operation of private enterprises, his attitude of pleading guilty and repenting after the case was brought to justice, so as to urge the defendant Wang to plead guilty and serve the law, and voluntarily sign the Letter of Commitment to Confession and Punishment under the witness of the lawyer. In the court trial, the defendant Wang pleaded guilty and repented in good faith, and voluntarily paid the fine in advance. The court adopted the prosecution's accusation opinions and sentencing suggestions, and Wang said he would not appeal after serving the sentence.

Typical significance

（1） Adhere to the joint investigation of bribery, anti-corruption without restricted areas, full coverage, zero tolerance. The supervisory and procuratorial organs strengthened cooperation, focused on the analysis, research and judgment of bribery clues in key areas, strengthened consultation, and gathered consensus. While severely punishing bribery, they also dared to show their swords to "hunters", strengthened work cooperation, played a "combination punch" against corruption, and promoted the investigation and punishment of bribery, cut the interest chain of corruption, and broke the power and money trading network, Let the hunters pay their due price, demonstrate the firm determination of zero tolerance for bribery, and advocate the concept of integrity and law-abiding in the whole society.

（2） Fulfill responsibilities around the overall situation and actively prevent and resolve financial risks 。 Financial security concerns the development and stability of the whole society. The power and money transactions have infiltrated and corroded the staff of commercial banks, which not only seriously damaged the integrity of their posts, but also caused problems such as the rise of non-performing loans and credit impairment, which is easy to cause financial risks. When handling bribery cases, it is necessary to highlight the key points, further intensify the fight against massive bribery and repeated bribery crimes that undermine the market competition order and threaten financial security, never condone bribery acts that constitute crimes, thoroughly eradicate the soil that breeds corruption, promote in-depth anti-corruption work in the financial field, and ensure national financial security, Provide strong guarantee for high-quality economic and social development.

（3） Accurately apply criminal policies and strive to achieve the "three effects" of handling cases. If private enterprises are suspected of committing criminal offences, they should not only crack down on crimes in accordance with the law, but also accurately apply the criminal policy of tempering justice with mercy to create a legal business environment. If the defendant pleads guilty and accepts punishment, he/she should comprehensively consider the nature, circumstances, consequences, attitude of confession and repentance of the crime, and put forward suggestions for lighter sentencing, so as to promote the organic unity of political, legal and social "three effects" in the handling of bribery cases, and enhance the demonstration effect of similar cases.

Instructions to enterprises

Article 164 of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China Whoever, for the purpose of seeking illegitimate interests, gives money or property to the staff of a company or enterprise, if the amount is relatively large, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years or criminal detention; If the amount is huge, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than 10 years and shall also be fined.

Where a unit commits the crime mentioned in the preceding paragraph, it shall be fined, and the persons who are directly in charge and the other persons who are directly responsible for the crime shall be punished in accordance with the provisions of the preceding paragraph.

If a briber voluntarily confesses his act of offering bribes before being prosecuted, he may be given a mitigated punishment or exempted from punishment.

Articles 15, 170 and 171 of the Criminal Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China

Article 15 If a criminal suspect or defendant voluntarily and truthfully confesses his crime, admits the facts of the alleged crime, and is willing to accept punishment, he may be given leniency according to law.

Article 170 The people's procuratorates shall examine cases transferred by supervisory organs for prosecution in accordance with the relevant provisions of this Law and the Supervision Law. If the People's Procuratorate deems it necessary to conduct supplementary verification after examination, it shall return the case to the supervisory organ for supplementary investigation, and may conduct supplementary investigation on its own when necessary.

For a case that has been transferred for prosecution by a supervisory organ and for which retention measures have been taken, the People's Procuratorate shall first detain the criminal suspect, and the retention measures shall be automatically lifted. The People's Procuratorate shall, within 10 days after detention, make a decision on whether to arrest, obtain a guarantor pending trial or place the person under residential surveillance. Under special circumstances, the decision time may be extended by one to four days. The period during which the People's Procuratorate decides to take compulsory measures shall not be included in the time limit for examination and prosecution.

Article 171 When examining a case, the People's Procuratorate must ascertain:

（1） Whether the facts and circumstances of the crime are clear, whether the evidence is accurate and sufficient, and whether the determination of the nature of the crime and the crime is correct;

（2） Whether there are omissions of crimes and other persons who should be investigated for criminal responsibility;

（3） Whether it belongs to those who should not be investigated for criminal responsibility;

（4） Whether there are incidental civil actions;

（5） Whether the investigation is legal.

Articles 45 and 46 of the Supervision Law of the People's Republic of China

Article 45. Supervisory organs shall, according to the results of supervision and investigation, make the following dispositions according to law:

（1） According to the administrative authority, public officials who have committed minor violations of duty shall be directly or entrust relevant organs and personnel to talk to remind, criticize and educate, order inspection, or admonish;

（2） Make decisions on administrative sanctions such as warning, demerit recording, major demerit recording, demotion, dismissal, and dismissal of public officials who violate the law in accordance with legal procedures;

（3） The leading personnel who are responsible for failing to perform or incorrectly performing their duties shall, in accordance with their management authority, make accountability decisions directly, or make accountability recommendations to the organs that have the authority to make accountability decisions;

（4） If the supervisory organ, after investigation, believes that the facts of the crime are clear and the evidence is reliable and sufficient, it shall prepare a statement of opinion for prosecution, which, together with the case file and evidence, shall be transferred to the People's Procuratorate for examination and prosecution according to law;

（5） Put forward supervision suggestions on the problems existing in the construction of clean government and the performance of duties of the unit where the supervision object belongs.

After investigation, if there is no evidence to prove that the investigated person has committed an illegal or criminal act, the supervisory organ shall cancel the case and notify the unit to which the investigated person belongs.

Article 46 After investigation, the supervisory organ shall confiscate, recover or order the return or compensation of the property illegally obtained; Property obtained from suspected crimes shall be transferred to the People's Procuratorate along with the case.

Articles 8 and 11 of the Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in Handling Criminal Cases of Corruption and Bribery

Article 8 Whoever commits the crime of offering bribes shall be deemed as "serious" in the first paragraph of Article 390 of the Criminal Law under any of the following circumstances:

（1） Bribing more than one million yuan but less than five million yuan;

（2） The amount of bribery is more than 500000 yuan but less than 1 million yuan, and has one of the circumstances specified in Item 1 to Item 5 of Paragraph 2 of Article 7 of this interpretation;

（3） Other serious circumstances.

Those who offer bribes to state functionaries for the purpose of seeking illegitimate interests and cause economic losses of more than one million yuan but less than five million yuan shall be identified as "causing heavy losses to the interests of the state" as stipulated in the first paragraph of Article 390 of the Criminal Law.

Article 11 The starting point of the amount of "large amount" and "huge amount" in the crime of acceptance of bribes by non State functionaries as stipulated in Article 163 of the Criminal Law and the crime of embezzlement as stipulated in Article 271 of the Criminal Law shall be twice and five times the amount standards corresponding to the crime of acceptance of bribes and corruption as stipulated in this Interpretation.

The starting point of "large amount", "huge amount" and "carrying out illegal activities" in the crime of misappropriation of funds stipulated in Article 272 of the Criminal Law shall be twice the amount standard stipulated in this interpretation for the crime of misappropriation of public funds "large amount", "serious circumstances" and "carrying out illegal activities".

The starting point of "large amount" and "huge amount" in the crime of offering bribes to non State functionaries as stipulated in the first paragraph of Article 164 of the Criminal Law shall be twice the amount standard for the crime of offering bribes as stipulated in Article 7 and the first paragraph of Article 8 of this interpretation.