Because he went to the bank to withdraw money many times, Zhou Jiangmeng ran all over several nearby agricultural banks, and he was afraid of being discovered, so he asked his friend Dang Manjiang to drink after work and asked him to help withdraw money.

After Dang Manjiang got the passbook, he found that the name on it was not Zhou Jiangmeng, so he asked him why he took someone else's fold to the bank to withdraw money.

Zhou Jiang lied that he and Li Yuanhui were card friends, Li Yuanhui lost money playing fried gold flowers, and bet the fold on him, and later he couldn't pay the money, so he let himself get it, but recently the company had a big inspection, and he had to work overtime and had no time during the day, so he asked Dang Manjiang for help, and said that he would not let him do it in vain.

Dang Manjiang pondered that such an important thing as a bank passbook would not be handed over to others, since Zhou Jiangmeng could get it, and there was a password, it might be really to pay off the gambling debt, Li Yuanhui asked him to take it. And there are not a few people who play fried golden flowers in the local area, and there are big cars and houses that are charged, and it is not uncommon to bet on a passbook.

So Dang Manjiang took his passbook the next morning and went to the nearest branch of the Agricultural Bank of China to take out 56,000 yuan in cash. In the evening, Zhou Jiang came to Dang Manjiang to withdraw money and invited him to dinner, and then took out 3,000 yuan to him as a reward.

A week later, Zhou Jiangmeng went to the city's Agricultural Bank twice to withdraw a total of 70,000 yuan in cash, and at this time there was still 220 yuan in the bankbook. Subsequently, Zhou Jiangmeng burned Li Yuanhui's passbook.

Zhou Jiang carried his daughter-in-law behind his back and put all the money he took on the top of the wardrobe as his daily expenses. Half a month later, Li Yuanheng found that the passbook was lost, and in the process of reporting the loss, he found that most of the money in the passbook had been withdrawn, so he called the police.

The public security organs found the suspects Zhou Jiangmeng and Dang Manjiang through the bank's surveillance video, and then summoned the two and interrogated them, Zhou Jiangmeng and the two confessed to the withdrawal of money and returned all the stolen money.

In the end, the public security organs transferred Zhou Jiangmeng to the procuratorate for theft. Subsequently, the procuratorate prosecuted Zhou Jiangmeng for theft.

The court of first instance held that the defendant Zhou Jiangmeng did not possess or control the money in the passbook when he found Li Yuanxing's passbook with the password, but he took advantage of the convenience of being familiar with the owner to use the secret method of stealing the passbook password several times, embezzled the name of Li Yuanhui, and went to the bank to spend 141,500 yuan on the passbook as his own.

Defendant Zhou Jiangmeng subjectively had the purpose of illegal possession and objectively carried out the act of secret theft, and his conduct constituted the crime of theft. In accordance with articles 264 and 61 of the Criminal Law, it was decided that the defendant Zhou Jiang was guilty of theft and sentenced to 10 years imprisonment and a fine of 10,000 yuan.

After the verdict was announced, Zhou Jiangmeng was not satisfied and appealed to the Municipal Intermediate People's Court.

"Lawyer Fang, I asked the previous lawyer yesterday, and he also said that my brother should not be guilty of theft, and it should not constitute a crime, and he also defended this in the previous trial. But the court didn't admit it at all, and convicted my brother of theft.

I heard Yu Sanqiang say that you are good at fighting criminal lawsuits and are experts in this area, do you think it is possible to reduce the sentence of my brother's case if he appeals? Zhou Jiangyong looked at Fang Yi with blank eyes, waiting for his reply.

Fang Yi put down the first-instance verdict and thought for a while: "Judging from the facts of the case, I think it is indeed debatable that the court determined that your brother's behavior constituted the crime of theft, and Zhou Jiangmeng did constitute a crime, but it should not constitute the crime of theft." ”

"What do you mean?" Ai Yajie's eyes showed an anxious look.

"Based on the description of the case in the verdict, I believe that Zhou Jiangmeng constituted the crime of fraud." Fang Yi said.

"Why? The passbook was picked up by Da Meng (Zhou Jiangmeng's nickname), and as soon as the police asked, he handed over all the money, isn't this the same as picking up the money and returning it to the owner? Why is it a crime of fraud again? Ayajie looked puzzled.

"Zhou Jiangmeng's matter is not the same as picking up the money and returning it to the owner, so it can't be understood like this.

In this case, Zhou Jiangmeng, for the purpose of illegal possession, illegally withdrew the deposits of others by guessing the password of others' passbooks, and his behavior was to fraudulently use the name of others to defraud the bank's trust, not 'secretly stealing' the deposits in the passbook, so he should be convicted and punished for the crime of fraud.

If Zhou Jiangmeng used the method of stealing other people's passbooks to withdraw deposits, he should be convicted and punished for the crime of theft. However, judging from the circumstances of this case and the evidence in the case, there is no evidence to prove that the passbook was the proceeds of Zhou Jiangmeng's theft, so it cannot be convicted and sentenced as the crime of theft. Fang Yi explained.

"Will fraud be punishable more severely than theft?" Zhou Jiangyong was a little worried.

"This cannot be generalized, and the specific circumstances of each case are different. Judging from the judicial interpretation, the starting point for the crime of fraud is 3,000 yuan to more than 10,000 yuan, while the starting point for the crime of theft is 1,000 yuan to more than 3,000 yuan.

To put it bluntly, for the same amount of money, under the same circumstances, the crime of theft may be more severe than the crime of fraud, because the starting point for theft is lower. Fang Yi briefly introduced.

His explanation left room for the imagination of Zhou Jiangyong and the others. For ordinary people who are not law majors, the more explanations will make the other party more confused, because the information asymmetry between the two sides is often more direct, more effective and more efficient in communicating in the vernacular or cases.

This may be the so-called seeing people and talking about people, and talking about ghosts. In conclusion, a lawyer's communication skills are important.

Seeing that the two were silent, Fang Yi added: "In fact, as far as this case is concerned, Zhou Jiangmeng is a first-time offender, and he returned all the stolen money, without causing losses to the victim, and he has a good attitude of admitting guilt after returning to the case. ”

"Lawyer Fang, if my brother's case is entrusted to you, how much will the lawyer's fee cost?" After a moment of silence, Zhou Jiangyong asked.

"Because I didn't do it in the first instance, and there is more work to be done in the second instance, the cost will be slightly higher, with 150,000 yuan in lawyer fees and travel expenses." Fang Yi replied.

The defendant in the first instance was sentenced to 10 years in prison, and if the sentence can be reduced, it will be a great benefit to the defendant.

"Well, we'll think about it, and we'll get back to you in the next two days. Thank you, Mr. Fang. After Zhou Jiangyong finished speaking, the two left the law firm after paying the consulting fee.

"Master, will they entrust it?" After returning to the office downstairs, Yun Qiao asked.

"It's hard to say, they may think the lawyer's fees are a bit high, just wait and see." Fang Yi replied.

"After ten years of trial in the first trial, the lawyer's fees for the second instance must be indispensable, and no lawyer will be less in this case. However, they paid all the consultation fees, and I don't think it is very likely that they will come back. Yun Qiao tilted his head and analyzed.

Zhou Jiangyong and Ai Yajie took a taxi to the train station, and while waiting for the train, the two had an argument about whether to entrust it.

(End of chapter)