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Original title: "Original | Difficulties of Cryptocurrency Cases"
Original source: Xiao Sa lawyer
It has been five years since I handled the first Bitcoin fraud case in 2014. I have encountered all kinds of suspects, family members and victims. There are similarities and differences in criminal cases involving Internet finance. Today, I would like to talk to you about the difficulties of cases in the currency circle, for reference only.
Article context:
1. It is pitiful that they are family members (family members of the suspect);
2. The scale is polarized and the sentences are heavy;
3. The secondary market increases the difficulty of criminal settlement.
Poor suspect's family
The so-called suspect's family members refer to the immediate family members who have the right to entrust a lawyer to defend a person after a criminal case is filed. Unlike P2P cases, the suspect's family members in cryptocurrency cases are divided into two categories: one is the parents around 50 years old; the other is the girlfriend around 25 years old (boyfriend is rare)
Let’s talk about the older family members first. This type of family members may not know much about the industry their children are engaged in, but they usually have a certain cultural and educational background and are more open to the Internet and new technologies.
When Sister Sa was attending a meeting in a provincial capital, a lawyer from a neighboring city drove to the venue and blocked me to meet. After communicating, I found out that his child was obsessed with technology and co-founded a public chain with friends. The coins raised by private placement have been used up. He asked me if I could go to the exchange to issue coins to "fill the hole". I asked about the scale of private placement. I thought that under the current conditions, the person involved was still young and there was no need to sacrifice his future. Having a criminal record would affect his future life. It is recommended that the parents and families of several founders share the amount, and the goal is to "get out of the trap" and slowly look for other opportunities in blockchain technology.
Another type is young girlfriends. In cryptocurrency cases, girlfriends account for 60% of the consultations. When these women hear that they do not have a legal status as a trustee, they always show a sense of loss in their eyes. We will suggest that girlfriends contact the boy’s parents to consult about the negotiation situation.
Girlfriends in the cryptocurrency circle are generally independent and strong. It is a good thing that they have strong resistance to attacks, but the criminal cases in their minds are not much different from those in TV dramas. They think that "public prosecution cases can be withdrawn", "relatives can meet during detention", and "bail can be paid". These are unrealistic and the possibility is almost zero in practice, but they are still very persistent, especially after replacing their boyfriends as the temporary boss of the company.
There will be a small climax in the cryptocurrency circle cases before the end of the year. I implore all my old friends in the cryptocurrency circle not to give your loved ones a chance to shed tears, stop in time, keep a low profile, and do not do "roadshows" in various cities.
The scale is polarized and the sentences are heavy.
Compared with the spectacular P2P explosion, most cases in the cryptocurrency circle are small-scale cases (except for plus tokens), but without exception, the crimes in the cryptocurrency circle are usually very serious.
P2P online lending platforms basically have the "original sin" of illegally absorbing public deposits (less than ten years); while cases in the cryptocurrency circle tend to be fraud or fundraising fraud, which can easily last for more than ten years.
Historically, most of the currency-related cases that have been sentenced in recent years were caused by currency brokers who interfered and caused the victims to lose a lot of money. The cases were filed for fraud and the local police actively handled the cases and recovered the stolen money and compensated for the losses.
But the case has changed today. The short bull market after the long bear market has made many friends in the exchange "come back to life". Some of the transaction information of the exchange has been changed to "Chinese" to facilitate Chinese purchases, and cross-border foreign exchange (money laundering) services have been provided for domestic residents, and the "coin + stock" innovative model has been implemented.
Brokerage cases still exist, and the defense feature is the "reality" of the "coin". Bitcoin exchange for Ethereum does not constitute fraud, but Bitcoin exchange for a new ICO's virtual currency may be considered "scamming people out of money." Of course, there are also pure scammers in brokerage cases, who say they helped people buy a certain coin but actually didn't buy it at all, but squandered it themselves.
The number of cases involving exchanges is gradually increasing, and in practice, the charge of fraud is more common; however, we believe that the charge of illegal business operation may be more appropriate. The former is too severe, while the latter is a bit lighter, and there is still hope for bail pending trial.
In the first three quarters of this year, the acquittal rate (bail rate) of exchange cases was relatively high. In the past month, we have clearly felt the chill and the drastic measures taken. The probability of the main culprit being released on bail pending trial is very small, and many technical personnel have been involved in criminal cases.
The curse of the secondary market
Indeed, as long as the social harm is eliminated, the outcome of the case is usually better. How to eliminate social harm? The key is that the victim should not irrationally defend his rights.
How to ensure that the victims will not irrationally defend their rights? The project owner has sufficient financial strength and public relations power (within the legal scope).
However, a major difficulty in virtual currency cases is that once traded on an exchange, the people involved and the scope of impact are uncontrollable.
According to the experience and lessons learned by Sister Sa in providing consultation to friends who returned their coins after September 4, 2019. It is true that some people are unwilling to return their coins, and they can't find anyone to return their coins to them even if they look all over the world; but when trouble comes, they come out from nowhere again, like slippery loaches, shrewd and greedy for profit.
Facing such a group of counterparties with complex demands is more difficult than dealing with online loan lenders. It is completely impossible to predict the next move of the counterparties. One can only prepare their own legal knowledge and keep enough coins waiting for redemption.
There are always a few "thorns" appearing every once in a while, and the project side needs to deal with them in a personalized way. They can neither ignore them nor fully subsidize them. A special team is needed to cooperate with the legal and public relations teams to properly solve them one by one. It is difficult to give a unified answer and a permanent solution, which is also the most time-consuming part of currency-related cases.
Final Thoughts
Cases involving the cryptocurrency industry are more difficult. The key point is that most of the suspects are young IT men, and their families know little about technology and law. Once the suspects are detained (without seeing their relatives for 1.5 years), it is difficult for their families to make rational choices at the critical moment of the case. They often fall into their own world, thinking that the law is like European and American dramas, but in fact it is not.
Solution: For private placements below 20 million, it is recommended that the families of co-founders and core executives actively raise funds and make compensation in place, which will help to obtain bail pending trial and lay the foundation for probation. For private placements with a large amount, it is recommended to reserve compensation funds and deposit them into the public account of the case handling agency in batches under the guidance of the defense lawyer. At the same time, it is strongly recommended that people in the cryptocurrency circle and their families understand legal common sense and not be deceived by the so-called "finding connections".
Regarding the difficulty of "serious charges", it requires the efforts of the parties and lawyers in each case, seeking truth from facts, and "taking off the fraud hat" of cases that are not fraud crimes, otherwise the sentence is too high and difficult to accept. Appropriate consideration should be given to changing a serious crime to a minor crime, and cautious defense of innocence should be made.
As for the curse of the secondary market, referring to previous experiences and lessons, it is difficult to deal with it completely. We can only stay vigilant at all times, put out the fire in time, and ensure that the relevant teams are fully equipped for emergencies.
Original link: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/295tBFYYrMVbr4_Leghgnw
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