Man stages a "Hollywood" self-inflicted scheme—embezzles public funds to pay gambling debts and gets caught
Plot Summary
A man in Jiangxia District, Wuhan, who was addicted to online gambling, accumulated a debt of 30,000 yuan. As the repayment day approached, he found himself short of money. At this time, his company leader asked him to temporarily deposit 28,200 yuan of public funds. After depositing the money into the bank, the man used it to settle his own debt, then staged a 'Hollywood'-level robbery 'self-inflicted injury' scheme to try to get away with it. However, within an hour, the police saw through his story and uncovered the truth. Investigators reviewed surveillance footage and electronic account statements from the bank the man frequently used, which showed that the 28,200 yuan was deposited into his personal account and then transferred to someone else's account. In other words, Tang never carried cash out on the street, and the facts in the video were vastly different from Tang's description. He failed to embezzle the public funds and even injured himself, bruising his arm. In the end, Tang was detained for public security offenses for filing a false police report.
(The photo shows Tang riding a motorcycle and crashing into a tree, then pretending it was a robbery scene)
Now we've really lost both the wife and the soldiers!!!!!!
It turns out that 26-year-old Tang had been working as a security guard at a nearby cement factory for seven years. Because he was diligent at work, the head of the security department trusted him very much. He was usually sent to the bank to deposit money, and he always handled it carefully without mistakes. Recently, Tang lost nearly 30,000 yuan due to being addicted to online gambling. With the repayment date approaching, he found himself short on cash. On the morning of the 7th, when he received another task from the department head to deposit money, he thought of a dishonest plan. At 2:30 that afternoon, after depositing the money in the bank to repay his debt, he deliberately crashed his motorcycle into a roadside tree on the way, causing a head injury with bleeding and a swollen hand, and then fabricated a story that he had been attacked by someone on the way. Unexpectedly, his 'self-inflicted injury trick' was quickly uncovered by the police.
Many readers may ask whether Mr. Tang's behavior constitutes a crime. Now, Lawyer Zhiming will analyze it for you step by step.
In our country, suspected 'embezzlement of public funds' generally has three possible legal scenarios.
01. [3] Crime of Embezzlement
[4] The crime of embezzlement refers to an act where an employee of a company, enterprise, or other unit, taking advantage of their position, illegally appropriates the unit's property for themselves, involving a relatively large amount. According to Article 271 of the Criminal Law, if an employee of a company, enterprise, or other unit, taking advantage of their position, illegally appropriates the unit's property for themselves, and the amount is relatively large, they shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than five years or criminal detention; if the amount is huge, they shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than five years, and may also be subject to confiscation of property.
Therefore, Mr. Tang's actions have actually constituted the crime of embezzlement of duties, and if his company decides to pursue it, he could also face a long prison sentence.
02. Embezzlement of public funds
The crime of embezzlement of public funds refers to the act by a state official of taking advantage of their official position to embezzle public funds for personal use, engaging in illegal activities, or embezzling a relatively large amount of public funds for profit-making activities, or embezzling a large amount and failing to return it for more than three months. According to the Supreme People's Court's "Interpretation on Several Issues Concerning the Specific Application of the Law in the Trial of Embezzlement of Public Funds Cases" (effective May 9, 1998), embezzling public funds for personal use and engaging in illegal activities starts at an amount of 5,000 to 10,000 yuan; embezzling public funds for personal profit-making activities or for personal use with a delay in repayment exceeding three months starts at an amount of 10,000 to 30,000 yuan. If the embezzled amount does not reach the above standards, it generally may not constitute a crime. Article 384 of the Criminal Law states that state officials who take advantage of their official position to embezzle public funds for personal use and engage in illegal activities, or embezzle a relatively large amount of public funds for profit-making activities, or embezzle a large amount of public funds and fail to return it for more than three months, commit the crime of embezzlement of public funds and shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of up to five years or criminal detention; in serious cases, to a fixed-term imprisonment of more than five years. If the embezzled funds are extremely large and not returned, the punishment shall be ten years or more of fixed-term imprisonment or life imprisonment. Embezzlement of funds intended for disaster relief, emergency rescue, flood control, veterans' benefits, poverty alleviation, migration, or relief aid for personal use shall be punished more severely.
Article 185: Bank or other financial institution personnel who, taking advantage of their positions, misappropriate the funds of their own unit or clients shall be convicted and punished in accordance with the provisions on the crime of misappropriating funds in Article 272 of this Law. Staff of state-owned financial institutions and personnel dispatched by state-owned financial institutions to non-state-owned financial institutions to conduct official business who commit the aforesaid acts shall be convicted and punished in accordance with the provisions on the crime of misappropriating public funds in Article 384 of this Law.
Article 272: Staff members of a company, enterprise, or other units who, taking advantage of their position, misappropriate funds of the unit for personal use or lend them to others, if the amount is relatively large and not returned for more than three months, or even if not exceeding three months, but the amount is relatively large, used for profit-making activities, or used for illegal activities, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years or criminal detention; if the amount of misappropriated funds is extremely large, or a relatively large amount is not returned, the sentence shall be fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than ten years.
03. Corruption
The crime of embezzlement refers to the act of state personnel illegally appropriating public property by embezzling, stealing, defrauding, or using other means by taking advantage of their official position.
The perpetrator of the crime of embezzlement must be a state functionary. A state functionary refers to personnel engaged in official duties in state organs, state-owned companies, enterprises, public institutions, and people's organizations, as well as personnel dispatched by state organs, state-owned companies, enterprises, and public institutions to non-state-owned companies, enterprises, public institutions, or social organizations to engage in official duties (such as personnel from state-owned companies dispatched to their invested companies to perform official duties), and other personnel who perform official duties according to law, who are all considered state functionaries. In addition, personnel entrusted by state organs, state-owned companies, enterprises, public institutions, and people's organizations to manage or operate state-owned property (such as contracting state-owned enterprises) can also be perpetrators of this crime. Ordinary citizens who do not have the aforementioned special status but conspire with the above personnel to commit embezzlement are treated as accomplices of embezzlement. Being suspected of embezzlement is quite serious; under the criminal law, the maximum penalty can be the death penalty.
According to Article 383 of the Criminal Law [Penalties for the Crime of Embezzlement], for the crime of embezzlement, the punishment shall be imposed according to the following provisions depending on the severity of the circumstances:
(1) If the amount of embezzlement is relatively large or there are other relatively serious circumstances, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of up to three years or criminal detention, and shall also be fined.
(2) If the amount of embezzlement is huge or there are other serious circumstances, the sentence shall be fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than ten years, and a fine or confiscation of property shall also be imposed.
(3) If the amount of embezzlement is extraordinarily large or there are other particularly serious circumstances, the offender shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of more than ten years or life imprisonment, and shall also be fined or have property confiscated; if the amount is extraordinarily large and causes particularly serious harm to the interests of the state and the people, the offender shall be sentenced to life imprisonment or death, and have property confiscated.
