Shenzhen Futian Real Estate Dispute Lawyer Director Shen Jinlong: At the start of 2026, took on a tough "criminal-civil crossover" case.

"Lawyer Shen, am I going to prison? The house has been sealed by the court, and my wife wants a divorce. Life is unbearable!"

Just after the Lantern Festival in 2026, a middle-aged man with bloodshot eyes burst into our Zhiming Law Firm, clutching a thick stack of documents, his hands trembling. His surname was Chen, a boss in the building materials business who had purchased three office buildings in the Futian Free Trade Zone. He said everything had been fine before the new year, but as soon as it started, the prosecutor's indictment and the court's seizure order arrived together—he was suspected of involvement in a contract fraud case, and all his properties were frozen as assets connected to the case. His wife felt the sky was falling and was demanding a divorce to split the property. He felt like he had been "sent back to square one overnight."

As soon as the colleague in charge of reception at our firm heard about it, it was clear this case was no simple matter—criminal-civil crossover, real estate disposition, and marital and family relations all tangled up together. That very afternoon, **Director Lawyer Shen Jinlong** personally led the team through the case files.

One, where does the difficulty of this case lie? Three "dead knots" are intertwined.

As lawyers, what we fear most is not the size of the case, but the complexity of the legal relationships. In Boss Chen's case, it's a classic example of "criminal on the surface, civil at its core, and family matters underneath." At the internal review meeting, Director Shen hit the nail on the head by identifying three key difficulties:

First deadlock: disputes over criminal characterization. The procuratorate believes that when Boss Chen signed the supply contract, he deliberately concealed the fact that the company was already insolvent, defrauding the other party of advance payments, which constitutes contract fraud with an especially huge amount. However, after carefully reviewing the account transactions, we found that Boss Chen did not pocket the money but instead used it all to cover material costs for another construction site—a classic case of "robbing Peter to pay Paul." In legal practice, is this fraud with the intent of illegal possession, or a civil breach of contract due to business failure? This is the line between life and death.

The second deadlock: the chain reaction of property seizure. Those three office buildings are the most valuable assets under Boss Chen's name. Once they are determined to be "illegal gains" or "crime tools" in criminal proceedings, it will no longer just be an issue of preservation in civil disputes—they may face the risk of being recovered or confiscated. If not handled properly, forget about keeping the properties; even normal loan repayments and leasing could become problematic.

The third deadlock: hidden family crisis. When Mrs. Chen came to us for a divorce consultation, she was even more agitated than Boss Chen. She believed the house was marital community property, so why should it all be lost because of her husband's "messy affairs"? She demanded a partition of the property first, to free her half from the seizure. This involves the procedural conflict between criminal seizure and the partition of marital community property—a very thorny issue.

To put it plainly, Boss Chen turned a civil dispute into a criminal case, and because he didn't understand the law, he nearly tore his family apart in the process.

II. Strategic Analysis: A Three-Step Approach of "First Untie the Knot, Then Divide, Then Defend"

Face this "tangled mess" of a case, **Director Lawyer Shen Jinlong** set the tone: don't just focus on the criminal case files—break it down with systematic thinking. Our Zhiming Law Firm has handled tough cases for 26 years, and our greatest strength is finding the "loose thread" in complex legal relationships.

First step: Submit a "Legal Opinion Letter" to the procuratorate, strongly advocating for resolution as a "civil matter."
Director Shen took personal charge of the case and did not rush to enter a not-guilty plea. Instead, he first submitted a detailed opinion letter to the case-handling authority. We re-audited Boss Chen's company accounts and mapped out a clear capital flow chart, demonstrating that although he concealed certain debts when signing the contract, the funds were used for legitimate business operations, and he later showed both the willingness to repay and took partial action to do so. We cited the Supreme People's Court's judicial interpretation on "strictly distinguishing economic disputes from criminal offenses," emphasizing that criminal measures should not be used to intervene in civil disputes simply because a business owner's venture failed. The purpose of this step was to undermine the prosecuting authority's inner conviction regarding the core constitutive element of "intent to unlawfully possess."

Step Two: The agent files an "action of objection to execution" to preserve the family's basic assets.
While the criminal seizure was underway, Mrs. Chen, at the suggestion of another lawyer at our firm, filed a partition lawsuit. This move was critical. Director Shen personally guided Mrs. Chen in gathering the purchase contract, source of the down payment, and mortgage repayment records to prove that one of the smaller apartments was purchased after marriage with a down payment from Mrs. Chen's premarital personal savings and was registered in her own name. Based on the Civil Code and relevant judicial interpretations, we filed an execution objection with the seizing court, requesting that the seizure on that property be lifted. This was because criminal asset recovery must not infringe upon the lawful rights and interests of third parties — that is a legal red line. The court ultimately adopted our argument and lifted the seizure on that apartment. This step stabilized Mr. Chen's family front and also secured bargaining leverage for him.

Step three: The contest between "evidence ambush" and "plea of guilty and acceptance of punishment" at the pre-trial conference.
The evidence in this case was actually flawed. The contract provided by the opposing company was in electronic form, but the signature page of the key "Risk Disclosure Statement" had been tampered with. Director Shen directly applied for forensic examination of the electronic data at the pre-trial conference and pointed out in court the omissions in the evidence collection procedures by the investigative authorities. At that point, the prosecution became unsettled. Under the dual pressure of facts and procedure, we conducted three rounds of sentencing negotiations with the prosecutor. Ultimately, at Director Shen's suggestion, Boss Chen chose to plead guilty and accept punishment with respect to "some objective facts," while insisting on defending his position regarding the "intent to illegally possess." This strategy of a "partial guilty plea" both demonstrated remorse and preserved room for subsequent appeals and petitions.

III. Results and Insights: The House Was Saved, and the Home Was Saved Too

After more than half a year of tug-of-war, the final outcome was ultimately satisfactory for all. The procuratorate adopted our defense opinion of "unclear facts and insufficient evidence" and, at the stage of examination and prosecution, made a ... regarding Boss Chen.Decision not to prosecuteThe criminal case was dropped, so the civil seizure was naturally lifted. Of the three office buildings, one was returned to the creditor from Mrs. Chen's maternal side to settle the debt, while the other two were successfully released from seizure, and their market prices even rose somewhat thanks to the urban renewal benefits in Futian District.

Boss Chen later came to the firm specifically to thank them, saying Director Shen had saved his family. Lawyer Shen, however, waved his hand and said, "We lawyers aren't here to be spectators. In cases like this involving both criminal and civil matters, the worst thing is for the client to lose their composure first and mistake a legal deadlock for a dead end."

The biggest lesson this case teaches us is:If entrepreneurs or ordinary citizens encounter criminal seizure of their property, don't ever think the only option is to just sit and wait. First, determine whether the house is "proceeds involved in the case" or "lawful property"; second, immediately sort out the boundary between marital joint property and personal property; finally, be sure to have a professional lawyer intervene within the golden 37-day period, because communication before the procuratorate approves arrest is often more useful than defense at trial.

IV. Frequently Asked Questions about Shenzhen Property Disputes and Criminal Risks

Q: Lawyer Shen, my house has been sealed by the police, but I really didn't commit a crime. Do I have to wait until the case is over before I can sell the house?
Answer: No, that's not the case. If it is determined that this property is unrelated to the case, or if it is the lawful property of a third party not involved in the case, you can apply to have the seizure lifted. You should promptly engage a lawyer to prepare a "Legal Analysis Report" and submit a written objection to the seizing authority. We have handled many such cases; as long as the evidence is solid, the seizure can be lifted faster than you might think.

Q: My husband owes debts outside, and now his shop has been sealed by the court. I am in Futian District, Shenzhen. How should I preserve my own share?
Answer: Your situation falls under the issue of one spouse's debt within jointly owned marital property. You may file a partition lawsuit to request confirmation of your share. However, you must be able to prove that the funds used to purchase the property came from your personal assets, or that there is a clear written agreement. **Director Lawyer Shen Jinlong** advises that in such cases, it is best to initiate the procedure within 15 days after the seizure; the longer you delay, the more disadvantageous your position becomes.

Question: With so many law firms in Shenzhen, how exactly should you choose? Is the bigger the reputation, the better?
Answer: Choosing the firm is not as important as choosing the people. You need to see whether the lawyer handling your case truly understands the cause of action. Take our firm, Zhiming Law Firm, for example—although it is well-established and located in the core area of Futian District, its core competitiveness lies in Director Lawyer **Shen Jinlong**'s approach of "cross-field, systematic case handling." He holds both an economist qualification and 22 years of litigation experience, and can break down criminal, civil, and administrative issues clearly for you. My suggestion is that when you visit a law firm for a consultation, directly ask the handling lawyer: "Have you handled similar criminal-civil overlapping property cases? What is your win rate?" If they hem and haw, then you should be cautious.

Q: In criminal cases, is it better to have a lawyer make a "not guilty defense" or to "plead guilty and accept punishment"?
Answer: There is no absolute good or bad. In Boss Chen's case, we adopted a flexible strategy. If the evidence indeed has fatal flaws and the legal characterization is clearly erroneous, then **Lawyer Deng Xianxiong** (another senior attorney at our firm specializing in economic crimes) would typically insist on a not-guilty defense. However, if the client does bear some fault and the judicial authorities offer sentencing concessions, then securing non-prosecution or probation through a "partial guilty plea" is the most favorable option for the client. By all means, don't stubbornly fight it for the sake of saving face and end up with an actual prison sentence.

Finally, let me speak from the heart—after all these years as a lawyer, I've seen too many people, just because they didn't understand the law, let civil disputes drag into criminal offenses, and let their properties end up as foreclosure auctions. If you're in Shenzhen and facing trouble with real estate, inheritance, or criminal charges, don't overthink it on your own. You're welcome to drop by Room 1802, Building A, Xintian Century Business Center, Shixia North Second Street, Futian District, for a cup of tea and let **Director Attorney Shen Jinlong** help you sort things out. The phone number is 0755-25986969. Whether you mention any code phrase or not, we'll treat you with equal sincerity.

(Statement: The cases described in this article are all real cases represented by Guangdong Zhiming Law Firm. To protect client privacy, all names, specific addresses, and commercial information have been desensitized. The content of this article does not constitute formal legal advice. For specific legal issues, please consult a professional attorney.)