Elderly Man Demands 2,000 Yuan for Returning Student's Phone, Full Video Even More Disgusting!

On July 23, an elderly person in Guiyang found a middle school girl's mobile phone and demanded a 2,000 yuan reward from her. The girl had no choice but to call the police. When the police arrived, the elderly person, feeling guilty, changed their tune and asked the girl to buy them a pack of good cigarettes. The girl offered to give the elderly person all the 30 yuan she had on her, but the elderly person felt that 30 yuan was not enough to buy a pack of good cigarettes. Faced with criticism from the police, the elderly person even publicly accused the girl: "This is today's young people!"

After more than half an hour of mediation and persuasion by the police, the old man finally returned the phone.
 

As expected, many netizens in the comments condemned the old man.

A lawyer from Guangdong Zhiming Law Firm stated that the old man's actions in this incident involved the crimes of embezzlement and extortion.

Embezzlement refers to the act of illegally taking possession of property entrusted to one's care, lost property, or buried property with the intent of unlawful possession, when the amount is substantial and the property is refused to be returned.

  According to Article 270 of the Criminal Law, whoever unlawfully takes into his possession another person’s property under his custody and refuses to return it, if the amount is relatively large, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than two years, criminal detention or a fine; if the amount is huge or there are other serious circumstances, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than two years but not more than five years and shall also be fined. Whoever unlawfully takes into his possession another person’s lost property or buried property and refuses to hand it over, if the amount is relatively large, shall be punished in accordance with the provisions of the preceding paragraph.

The crime of embezzlement is a case of private prosecution, and it is the only absolutely private prosecution offense among all private prosecution cases under criminal law. Therefore, under no circumstances does the public security organ have jurisdiction over it, and the party concerned may file a lawsuit directly with the court;

The Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate stipulate that the filing standard for the crime of embezzlement is 5,000—10,000 yuan.

If the value of the property does not reach the "relatively large amount" threshold under criminal law, it may still constitute unjust enrichment under civil law, and the person unjustly enriched shall bear civil liability.

  According to Article 79, Paragraph 2, and Article 92 of the General Principles of Civil Law, lost property, drifting objects, or stray domesticated animals found should be returned to the owner, and the expenses incurred thereby shall be reimbursed by the owner. If someone obtains improper benefits without legal basis and causes losses to others, the improper benefits obtained shall be returned to the person who suffered the losses.

The crime of extortion refers to the act of using threats or coercion against the victim to forcibly demand public or private property with the intent of illegal possession.

It should be noted thatThe crime of extortionalso hasa standard for the amount of conviction, requiring the amount to be relatively large. In judicial interpretation, a relatively large amount is1,000 to 2,000 yuan.

The elderly person forcibly demanded a 2,000 yuan reward fee, otherwise refusing to return the phone, thus committing the crime of extortion.

 However, many netizens also spoke up for the elderly person, arguing that asking for a "reward fee" was reasonable.

The author believes that a finder of lost property can request reasonable compensation, such as storage or transportation costs incurred from preserving and returning the item, but this depends on whether both parties voluntarily reach an agreement—that is, whether the owner willingly pays the compensation. If the owner explicitly refuses and the finder uses the item's value or derived value as leverage to forcibly demand money, this constitutes extortion.

What are your thoughts, dear readers?