Li was the legal representative of a Xiamen-based industrial company. An investigation by a public security bureau found that by claiming he owned offshore mining rights, he swindled a victim out of RMB17,400,000 by signing with him cooperation agreements and equity transfer agreements; moreover, he forged the company’s common seal. The public security bureau presented his case to the prosecutor on counts of contract fraud and forgery of common seal.
Dacheng’s Xiamen-based Zhang Haiyong was retained as defense lawyer for Li. He was confronted with over ten dossiers and a large amount of offshore evidence. After meeting the defendant in person and straightening out all evidence, he found that Li actually had an investment failure resulting from his unfamiliarity with offshore mining regulations. That he was unable to return investment capital to the victim should be deemed a civil dispute, rather than a criminal offense. Zhang communicated this point to the prosecutor immediately, who eventually decided to accuse Li solely for forging common seal.
The case went to the court and Li was sentenced to fifteen months in prison for forging common seal. As Li had been kept in custody long enough, he was bailed out immediately at the court.
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