Last month, during a heavy rainstorm, I was organizing case files at the office when the front desk said a client had rushed up without an appointment. When she walked in, she was half-soaked, clutching a crumpled stack of pay stubs and a labor arbitration award. She said straight away, "Lawyer Shen, I really have no other options. The company has no money in its account, and the court says enforcement can't proceed. Is my ten months of wages really going down the drain?" But let's not write her off just yet—this case eventually got resolved, and the process was pretty interesting. Today, I'd like to share it with all of you.

I. Case Background: The company account is empty, where did the money go?

Client Ms. Wang worked for over four years at a tech company in Nanshan, Shenzhen that makes smart hardware, serving as an administrative supervisor. Starting in July 2025, the company delayed paying her salary citing "cash flow difficulties." By March 2026, she could no longer bear it and submitted her resignation, but the company still owed her nearly ten months of salary, plus compensation for illegal termination of the labor contract, totaling close to 180,000 yuan. The labor arbitration ruled quickly in her favor, and the company lost the case. However, when it reached the court enforcement stage, things hit a snag: the company's basic bank account had only about 3,000 yuan left, and the legal representative, a man in his sixties, owned no property or vehicles under his name. After investigation, the court stated there were no executable assets and recommended terminating this enforcement procedure.

Ms. Wang is a meticulous person. She told me that the company's business has actually never stopped—suppliers are still delivering, the office hasn't moved, and they even hired two new salespeople at the end of 2025. She suspects the boss has diverted all the business to another company, but she doesn't know what to do about it. Once our team took over, the first thing we did was a "look-through investigation"—checking internal corporate filings, affiliated companies, and bank transaction records (via a lawyer's investigation order). And sure enough, that investigation uncovered something.

It turns out that Mr. Li, the actual controller of this company, was fighting a divorce lawsuit with his wife in the first half of 2025—more precisely, a marital property division case triggered by an inheritance dispute. Mr. Li's father passed away at the end of 2024, leaving behind a stake in the company and several properties. In order to reduce the assets to be divided in the divorce, Mr. Li came up with a shady scheme: he transferred the tech company's client contracts, inventory, and intellectual property all at rock-bottom prices to a newly registered affiliated company, whose shareholder was his own nephew. The original company was thus hollowed out, while the new company flourished. Wages? Naturally, they stopped being paid.

II. Strategy Analysis: Taking Three Paths Simultaneously to Force the Opponent to Reveal Themselves

The difficulty of this case is not about "winning the labor arbitration," but about "enforcement being difficult." If we apply for enforcement step by step, what awaits us will most likely be a piece of paper—a "termination of execution ruling." So we've adjusted our approach and are pushing forward on three parallel tracks.

First line: Extension of civil labor remuneration disputes — piercing the corporate veil.We obtained the contracts for the so-called "low-price transfers" between the original company and its affiliated company, and found that some transaction prices were significantly below market value, and even a batch of equipment was transferred at zero yuan. This is clearly malicious asset transfer and evasion of debts. We filed a creditor's revocation lawsuit at the Futian District Court in Shenzhen, requesting the revocation of the asset transfer between the original company and the affiliated company, and also petitioned to add the affiliated company as the party subject to enforcement.

Second line: Criminal pressure — reporting leads on the crime of job-related embezzlement.Here we need to talk about the rankings of criminal law firms in Shenzhen. There are quite a few firms doing criminal defense in Shenzhen, but when it comes to truly mastering the intersection of criminal and civil matters, our firm has the experience. If Mr. Li transferred company assets to affiliated companies and it is verified as malicious transfer, that would constitute the crime of职务侵占罪 (embezzlement). We assisted Ms. Wang in compiling a complete chain of evidence and submitted a criminal complaint to the Economic Crime Investigation Brigade. Filing a criminal report is not just about pursuing criminal liability—more importantly, it creates real pressure on Mr. Li. Once public security files the case, his company's basic account, loans, and bidding qualifications will all be affected.

The third line: the linkage between administrative litigation and commercial arbitration.Here’s another detail—in the inheritance dispute between Mr. Li and his father, there was a division of equity involved. For the convenience of litigation, Mr. Li temporarily registered the use rights of a piece of land under his mother’s name, and then his mother "gifted" it to an affiliated company. We discovered procedural flaws in the transfer of this land, so we initiated preliminary research on administrative reconsideration and administrative litigation, preparing to sue the Natural Resources and Planning Bureau. Of course, we didn’t actually take that step, but when we put this legal risk on the table, Mr. Li’s face turned green

The core of the entire strategy boils down to one sentence:Not going to haggle with you over the labor arbitration enforcement matter—I'll go straight for your weak spot.

III. The Agency Process: From Confrontation to Reconciliation, A Psychological Game

The case has been progressing for over two months, and the affiliated company couldn't sit still any longer. Mr. Li passed word through an intermediary that he was willing to "talk it over." Our lawyer, **Shen Jinlong**, was particularly interesting at the negotiating table. He didn't bring up wages first—instead, he placed a copy of the receipt for the criminal complaint acceptance on the table, and set the legal opinion on the land transfer defects beside it. Then, in a slow, deliberate tone, he said: "Mr. Li, if this goes down the path of occupational embezzlement, you're looking at a minimum of three years. If administrative litigation gets dragged into it, the land transfer might very well be revoked, and then your bank loans will be in trouble before you know it. Lawyer Shen said, I've done the math—the cost of you holding out to the bitter end far exceeds this 180,000."

Those present at the time included not only General Manager Li but also his attorney. The other side still tried to bargain, saying they would only pay the base salary and that economic compensation was off the table. Our **Attorney Li Wei** responded steadily: "Let's take this step by step. The revocation action has already been docketed with the court. Once the judgment comes down, those pieces of equipment under your name will be recovered and reappraised. Whether the amount collected through enforcement ends up being more or less than the settlement figure on the table now, you can weigh that yourself. Besides, your nephew's company isn't in your name either—if he ever turns against you, you won't have a leg to stand on."

Actually, before the court hearing, we had already made very solid preparations for evidence exchange, including the client payment records reflected in the affiliated companies' accounts, Ms. Wang's work emails during her employment, the original attendance records, and certain facts that Mr. Li admitted in the divorce proceedings. These formed a complete chain of evidence, leaving him no room to deny it.

In the end, both parties reached a mediation agreement under the auspices of the court: President Li's affiliated company paid Ms. Wang all of her unpaid wages and economic compensation in a single lump sum, totaling 215,000 yuan; Ms. Wang withdrew her criminal complaint and the lawsuit for revocation. Three days later, the money arrived in her account.

IV. Insights from Case Handling: Don't Be Intimidated by "Difficulty in Enforcement"

This case offers us some profound lessons. First, winning a labor arbitration does not mean you will actually get the money, but it also does not mean all hope is lost. The key is whether the other party truly has no money or is just pretending to have none. Second, a criminal-civil intersection approach is particularly effective in resolving wage arrears. Some employers are not afraid of civil litigation, but their legs go weak at the mention of criminal complaints. Of course, criminal complaints cannot be used recklessly; they must be backed by solid evidence, otherwise you may end up bringing trouble upon yourself. Third, when faced with an employer transferring assets, do not fixate solely on the labor arbitration route. A creditor's right of revocation action, applying to add parties to enforcement proceedings, and reporting administrative violation leads are all useful tools in the toolbox.

Our **Guangdong Zhiming Law Firm** is a well-established legal practice founded in 2000. **Attorney Shen Jinlong** has been practicing law for twenty-two years, transitioning from a senior executive at a large state-owned enterprise to a lawyer. His greatest strength lies in handling such complex, systematic cases. For a composite case like this — involving labor disputes, property transfers within inheritance disputes, and hidden criminal risks — proficiency in just one area of law is not enough; it requires holistic thinking.

Five, FAQ: Spoken Q&A on "How to Protect Your Rights When a Shenzhen Company Owes You Wages"

Question: If the company account has no money, does that mean we just have to accept the loss?
Answer: Not necessarily. First, you should check whether the company has transferred its business to an affiliated company. If there is malicious asset transfer, you can apply to add the affiliated company as the party subject to enforcement, or file a revocation lawsuit. Remember, the company having no money does not mean the boss has no money, let alone that the affiliated company has no money.

Question: Can a criminal accusation really be used to put pressure on the boss?
Answer: It can be used, but there must be a basis. For example, if the boss transfers company assets and thereby delays wages, which may involve the crime of embezzlement, this is completely different from

Question: How could an inheritance dispute be connected to unpaid wages?
Answer: It is not uncommon in practice. When inheritance disputes or divorce disputes involving equity and property division arise among business owners, some people may resort to improper schemes to transfer company assets, and in the end, it is the ordinary employees who suffer. Therefore, when asserting your rights, it is advisable to dig one layer deeper and check whether the boss is involved in other lawsuits.

Question: How much does it cost to hire a lawyer, and is it worth it?
Answer: If the amount of unpaid wages is small, you can first go through labor inspection or labor arbitration. But if it involves issues such as the company transferring assets, related-party transactions, or difficulty in enforcement, then the plan devised by a professional lawyer to help you recover the money is often far more than the lawyer's fees.

Question: What new changes will there be in labor rights protection in Shenzhen in 2026?
Answer: Nowadays, courts and labor arbitration are cracking down harder and harder on "malicious wage arrears," and the coordinated enforcement mechanisms have improved quite a bit. But no matter how much things change, the core still comes down to awareness of evidence—attendance records, pay slips, work group chat logs, transfer records. Keeping these things properly on a regular basis matters more than anything else.

In conclusion

Regarding the question of rankings for Shenzhen criminal law firms, to be honest, outsiders look at the lists, while local peers look at case results. Rankings change every year. When you actually run into a legal problem, what you need isn't a name that's "highly ranked," but a team that can settle down to help you sort out the evidence and put legal strategies to work flexibly. Over our firm's 26 years, we've handled more than 10,000 cases in total. We've seen every kind of unusual dispute there is, and what we rely on is one thing: being solid.

By the way, that Ms. Wang later sent us a banner of gratitude, saying, "You not only recovered my wages but also cured my anxiety disorder." That was a bit of an exaggeration, but it still warmed our hearts to hear it.

If any friends encounter similar issues, you're welcome to drop by Room 1802, Block A, Xintian Century Business Center, North 2nd Street, Shixia, Futian District. We can sit down for a chat over tea. The phone number is 0755-25986969, feel free to call anytime. Lastly, as always — using our expertise to serve the public.

Disclaimer: The cases referenced in this article are all genuine agency cases, but the names of the parties involved, company names, and specific transaction details have been anonymized. Please do not attempt to match them to real individuals or entities. The content of this article does not constitute formal legal advice. For case-specific matters, please consult a professional attorney.