Bidding on a premium phone number for millions, then refusing to pay, disrupting judicial order
Compiled from: Shandong High Court, Legal Daily
Case review
Starting at 10 a.m. on November 24, the Zhenjiang Economic Development Zone People's Court in Jiangsu Province publicly auctioned the phone number 18611999999, held by a criminal case offender. The auction announcement stated that the starting bid was 100 yuan, with a deposit of 20 yuan, and the bidding period lasted one day. The remaining auction payment was required to be made within 7 calendar days, i.e., by December 3. At that time, the bidding for this judicial item was extremely intense, with nearly 50,000 onlookers and 720 registered bidders. Within about 18 minutes, the auction price reached 100,000 yuan, and within about 33 minutes, it surpassed 1 million yuan, with one bidder increasing the price by 200,000 yuan at once. Subsequently, the bidding price continued to soar dramatically, with netizens exclaiming "thrilling."
At 10 a.m. on November 25, the judicial auction concluded, with individual Xiao Moumou winning the phone number at the highest bid of 26,145,892 yuan, a staggering increase of 261,400 times the starting price.
However, just as the 26.14 million yuan auction of the premium phone number seemed to have ended, on the afternoon of December 5, the Zhenjiang Economic Development Zone People's Court issued a notice, once again sparking public attention.
The notice stated that on November 7, the court published an auction announcement on the Taobao judicial auction platform, deciding to publicly auction the phone number "18611999999" from 10 a.m. on November 24 to 10 a.m. on November 25. The winning bidder was required to pay the remaining auction payment by December 3. At 9:36 a.m. on November 25, Xiao Moumou won the auction with the highest bid of over 26.14 million yuan, but failed to pay the remaining amount on time. On December 3, during the court's investigation and verification process, Xiao Moumou explicitly stated that she refused to pay the remaining auction payment. Xiao Moumou's behavior disrupted the judicial auction order. Given that Xiao Moumou is currently pregnant and not suitable for judicial detention, the court decided to impose a fine of 80,000 yuan on her.
Civil Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China
Article 187
The acts of obstructing judicial personnel from performing their duties by violence, threats, or other methods as specified in Article 111, Paragraph 1, Item 5 of the Civil Procedure Law include:
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(5) Obstructing judicial personnel from conducting inquiries, seizures, freezes, deductions, auctions, or sales of property through violence, threats, or other means;
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[1] The author's perspective
After Xiao Moumou won the auction bid but failed to pay the remaining auction price on time, this constituted malicious bidding and disrupted the judicial auction order. According to the above legal provisions, this act falls under obstructing judicial personnel in performing their duties, and the People's Court may impose fines or detention on him, and if it constitutes a crime, pursue criminal liability according to law. In this case, the court imposed a fine of 80,000 yuan based on the actual circumstances, which is lawful and justified. It is noteworthy that, according to the "Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on the Auction and Sale of Property in Civil Enforcement by People's Courts," if the price of a re-auction is lower than the original auction price, the resulting差价, costs, and losses, as well as the commission from the original auction, may be directly deducted from the deposit paid in advance by the People's Court. If the deposit is insufficient, the court may order the party to make up the difference, and if the party refuses, enforcement may be carried out.
