It is necessary for the prosecutors of the Peace Zone Procuratorate to pay a return visit to the enterprises involved. Photographed by Han Yuxin
"After the enterprise's compliance rectification, the turnover in the first quarter of this year tripled year on year. I thought this case was a crisis for the enterprise, but it turned out to be a turning point for expansion and development. Many Taiwanese friends also wanted to invest in Shenyang after hearing about it." Recently, Wu, the person in charge of the Taiwan funded enterprise involved in the case, tightly grasped the hand of the prosecutor handling the case of the Heping District Procuratorate in Shenyang, Liaoning Province to express his gratitude.
The Taiwan funded enterprises involved in the case are mainly engaged in manufacturing machine tool parts, with an annual tax payment of about 5 million yuan, which has made great contributions to regional economic development. In September 2023, the financial manager of the enterprise, Mr. Zhou, was investigated for being suspected of falsely issuing special VAT invoices, involving more than 1.5 million yuan. After the investigation by the public security organ is completed, the case shall be transferred to the Heping District Procuratorate for examination and prosecution.
After the field visit, the case handling prosecutor learned that the enterprise was operating well, and timely paid taxes and late fees after the crime, and found that the management personnel had high acceptance of compliance management, so it was feasible to carry out enterprise compliance. In order to minimize and eliminate the negative impact of criminal proceedings on the enterprises involved, based on the principle of promoting the well-being of Taiwan compatriots and promoting economic exchanges and cooperation between the two sides of the Taiwan Straits, the hospital started the enterprise compliance investigation procedure after consulting with the enterprises to help them develop healthily.
Subsequently, the management committee of the third-party supervision and evaluation mechanism of the enterprises involved selected legal, accounting and tax professionals from the list of professionals to supervise and evaluate the compliance of the enterprises involved. During the period of enterprise compliance supervision and inspection, the enterprises involved made compliance commitments and issued compliance plans.
According to the suggestions of the management committee of the third-party supervision and evaluation mechanism of the enterprises involved and the procuratorial organ, the enterprise implemented the rectification in stages from the aspects of problem investigation, risk identification and rectification, and compliance system construction. After investigation, the management committee of the third-party supervision and evaluation mechanism of the enterprise involved issued a supervision and evaluation opinion, and believed that the enterprise's operation was obviously standardized after the economic cooperation regulation reform, and the rectification effect was significant.
On April 16, 2024, the court held a public hearing on the case, and invited lawyers, practitioners in the financial industry, professional technicians from the tax department, etc. to form a hearing team to conduct a field investigation and verification of the rectification. After the investigation, it was unanimously agreed that the enterprise had blocked the financial management loopholes through compliance construction, greatly improved the enterprise's risk prevention and control ability, and qualified the enterprise's compliance rectification. After comprehensively considering the facts of the crime, the circumstances of the crime, the supplementary payment of taxes and the completion of the compliance plan, and soliciting opinions from the market supervision and tax authorities, the procuratorial organ made a decision not to prosecute Zhou according to law.
On May 17, the case handling prosecutor paid a return visit to the enterprise and asked Mr. Wu about the current business situation and legal needs of the enterprise.
"When the enterprise first had an accident, I had a heavy ideological burden. Selling products was my strong point, but I knew nothing about financial management. I entrusted Mr. Zhou to take charge of financial management out of trust. Unexpectedly, such a big thing happened. At the beginning, I felt that the case would bring a devastating blow to the development of the enterprise. When I didn't know how to deal with it, it was the prosecutor who knocked on my door, and the compliance rectification put the enterprise on the "fast track" of development. At present, the daily operation of enterprises has returned to the right track and actively contributed to regional economic growth. " Wu said frankly.
The mountain and sea cannot be closed, and the peacock flies northward. In this way, an enterprise crisis turned from "danger" to "opportunity". More Taiwanese businessmen learned about Shenyang's good business environment through Wu's description. A good time for cooperation between "Taiwan" and "Shenyang" has come with the help of enterprise compliance.
