时间：2022-09-20 07:04:34
The secret of getting rich is to take smart risks while keeping to the letter of the law. However， this works on the assumption that the law is predictable. A series of high-profile criminal cases over the past few years， however， show that the road to self-made wealth may be considerably more perilous in China.
Firstly， the vague definitions in many of China’s commercial laws seem to have given too much decisive power to local authorities. The death sentences for “financing fraud”handed down to private entrepreneurs by local courts have exposed the urgency of the problem. Borrowing money through private networks has traditionally been the most readily available source of capital for Chinese private businesses. If the business goes well， the entrepreneur is hero-worshipped by both the press and the government， at least in the short-term. However， if the debtor defaults， leaving more than 30 or 150 creditors （depending on whether the debtor is an individual or an institution） out of pocket， then he or she is vilified， and accused of having been a swindler from the outset. Punishments， ranging from lengthy jail sentences to death， are imposed according to how much the local government needs to appease creditors.
Secondly， irregularities in local government legal procedures are commonplace. Before a ruling is made， assets of suspects should be under the custody of the court. However， those assets often end up at the disposal of government offices during the period of investigation.
The day after Wu was arrested， his company was shut down， and his factories and cactus fields were promptly razed. The local public security bureau auctioned off part of his assets， despite strong protests from the company， its investors and lawyers. This kind of pillaging is standard practice in cases involving criminal charges against private businesspeople.
Thirdly， some of the criminal charges levelled at private entrepreneurs simply reflect excessive restriction on the market， often in favor of vested interests. For example， a tobacco retailer can be accused of illegal business activity if it sells at a scale that qualifies as wholesaling， a practice on which the government protects its monopoly. Chen Youxi， director of Capital Equity Legal Group and one of China’s most prominent economic crime lawyers， warned that under pervasive restrictions on business operation， no Chinese private entrepreneur is safe from criminal charges.
As a result， private entrepreneurs have regularly been labelled “mafiosi” in the past two or three years. In fact， Chen Youxi explained to NewsChina that the charge of “mafia” does not exist in Chinese law， adding that the label was created by placing “a package of several charges” on a single defendant. Some verdicts in which entrepreneurs were found guilty of being “mafia” have been widely protested by lawyers， particularly verdicts passed in Chongqing under the Bo Xilai administration， as well as various recent cases in other provinces.
The difficulty of financing a private business has， at least， aroused public sympathy and provoked legal experts to discuss the unfairness of financing fraud charges. However， for the most part， organized crime trials tend to generate public support for prosecutors， support fueled by public resentment of the growing wealth gap in society.
When accidentally breaking the law is so easy， said Chen， not only does entrepreneurship suffer， but the authority of the law is undermined.
Legal experts are calling for more prudent use of criminal law in dealing with private lending cases. Professor Li Shuguang with the China University of Political Science and Law， stressed that corporate restructuring in line with the Corporate Bankruptcy Law gives the business and investors in question a much higher chance of reviving the company after a crippling investigation.
“My money is still there， otherwise I would rather have died，” said Huang Huang， one of the 50，000 investors in Wu Shangli’s case who agreed to transfer their money into equity in Wu’s subsidiary company in Shanghai.
This company， however， was later also forced to suspend operations later after the public security agency in Bozhou， the location of Wu’s headquarters， required regulators in Shanghai to revoke its business license.