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Written by: Lu Leqian
2020-01-24 18:38
Last updated: 2020-01-24 18:38A Correctional Services Department instructor who supervised prisoners cooking in Stanley Prison was accused of accepting five loans totalling 90,000 yuan from two prisoners' families to treat the prisoner and another inmate in prison. He was charged with conspiracy to commit public office The crime of accepting interest by officers and three crimes of accepting interest by public officials. The case was decided today (24th) in the Eastern District Court, and the magistrate ruled that the defendant had four charges. The magistrate sentenced that the acceptance of the defendant did not actually benefit the prisoners, but that it was sufficient to accept the loan as the defendant's public office, and was sentenced to 15 months in prison.
The defendant Zhu Jiahao was charged with conspiracy to receive benefits and other charges. (Photo by Lu Leqian)
The first defendant, Zhu Jiahao (age 41), a technical instructor from the Correctional Services Department; the second defendant, Jiang Dalong (age 30), is currently serving his sentence in prison. The two were charged with a crime of conspiracy to make public officials accept interests, saying that they conspired to accept a loan of 40,000 yuan without legal authority or reasonable excuse between July 1 and July 24, 2017. As Zhu tends to, or stays in favor of, Jiang.
Zhu was also charged with three crimes of accepting interest by public officials, accusing him of accepting three loans of 10,000, 30,000, and 10,000 yuan respectively on January 16, February 14, and March 7 last year. He favoured another prisoner assigned to work in the kitchen workshop and under his direct supervision.
Defendant maintains favourable treatment of borrowers
The trial magistrate Huang Xiangrong said in the ruling that during the trial, the defendant stated that the defendant wanted the prisoner to borrow money was a private loan and had no intention to benefit the two prisoners. There was no possibility that the defendant's mechanism would give preferential treatment to the prisoner, and the defendant ultimately There is no preferential treatment for borrowers.
However, Huang Guan said that as the defendant, he has the right to check the performance of the kitchen prisoners, and can even change positions according to his performance and even arrange for individual prisoners to be held incommunicado.
Convictions without preferential treatment
Huang Guan also cited a case in which the defendant, as a public official, had a special relationship with the prisoner under management. Once he accepted the prisoner's benefits, he had committed a crime of accepting the benefit of public officials even if the defendant did not give the prisoner any preferential treatment. As a result, Huang Guan finally convicted the defendant on all counts.
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Borrowing money due to family financial pressure
The defence pleaded that the defendant was married and had two sons aged 9 and 5. The defendant came from a single-parent family with poor academic performance, but has been working hard and studying for his family, hoping to provide the best life for the mother, wife, and son. This crime is due to the family's financial pressure, not his own bad habits. . Since the defendant was suspended from office two years ago, he has been reflecting on his behavior every day, deeply regretted, and wrote a pleading letter in writing, expressing his willingness to take responsibility.
Courtship means that the defendant has ruined his future
The defense also submitted a courtship letter written by his wife, mother, etc., proving that the defendant Gu family was responsible, filial and kind, and that the defendant had ruined his future after this case. Therefore, I hope the court can consider obtaining a social order and background report for the defendant. Huang Guan said that the case was serious and the prison sentence was unavoidable, so he rejected the defense application.
Huang Guan finally performed well and received many accolades before accepting the defendant's crime. His background also shows that he is of good character, and now has regrets. There is no evidence that the defendant intends to evade the debt. In addition, he has no chance to serve in this case. As a government official, the chances of recidivism are extremely low, so he eventually reduced his sentence to 15 months.
Case number: ESCC1801 / 2019
Correctional Services Corruption Court