The series of cases involving Guo Wengui has continued in recent days.On the morning of August 20, the Beijing Zhengquan Holdings Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Zhengquan Holdings) actually controlled by Guo Wengui and a series of forced transactions and misappropriation of funds by senior executives opened a public court session in the Intermediate Court of Dalian City, Liaoning Province.The court investigation revealed that Guo Wengui used the power of Ma Jian, the former vice minister of the Ministry of State Security, to obtain shares by coercing and threatening competitors, gradually controlling China Minzu Securities Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Minzu Securities) and embezzling 2.05 billion yuan of fundsprocess.
In today's trial, Zhengquan Holdings was the unit defendant, and Guo Hanqiao, Zhao Dajian, Shan Weiliang, Yang Ying, Lu Tao and other senior executives of Guo Wengui's companies were the defendants.The Dalian Municipal People's Procuratorate accused Guo Wengui, the actual controller of Zhengquan Holdings, in 2008, conspiring with Guo Hanqiao, then the investment advisor of Zhengquan Holdings, and Zhao Dajian, the then chairman of Minzu Securities, to decide to acquire the equity of Minzu Securities in the name of Zhengquan Holdings.In order to eliminate the obstacles that may be encountered in the acquisition process, Guo Wengui sought the help of Ma Jian, the then deputy minister of the Ministry of State Security. Guo Wengui and Ma Jian respectively instructed the relevant personnel to take threats and other means to force the relevant shareholders to give up the right of first refusal or to give up the capital increase plan., which eventually increased the equity of Minzu Securities held by Zhengquan Holdings to 84.4%.The prosecution accused that by the time of the incident, Zhengquan Holdings had made a profit of 11.904 billion yuan through the above-mentioned alleged forced transaction crimes.
The Dalian Municipal Procuratorate also accused that after completing the holding of Minzu Securities, from September to December 2014, Guo Wengui, Zhao Dajian, Yang Ying, and Shan Weiliang jointly planned to use Zhao Dajian as the chairman of Minzu Securities and Yang Ying as the chief financial officer of Minzu Securities.Shan Weiliang served as the vice president of Minzu Securities, and together with Lu Tao, the executive deputy general manager of Beijing Pangu Investment Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Pangu's Company), which is actually controlled by Guo Wengui, transferred Minzu Securities' own funds to Guo Wengui's arrangement., used for repayment, loan repayment and other business activities, resulting in 1.741 billion yuan that had not been returned before the incident.
This is the latest in a series of cases involving Guo Wengui to go to trial.Since 2017, in Dalian, Kaifeng and other places, a series of cases involving Guo Wengui in fraudulently obtaining loans, fraudulently purchasing foreign exchange, and acceptance of bills have been opened and sentenced.
Strong buy to become a shareholder of Minzu Securities
According to a previous report by Caixin.com, around 2009, Guo Wengui, who had a little spare time in real estate projects such as Pangu Grand View and Jinquan Plaza, began to set his sights on financial institutions with more abundant cash flow.The previous regulations such as one participation and one control issued in April 2008 allowed Guo Wengui to sniff out business opportunities and set his sights on ethnic securities.
In December 2009, Beijing Zhengquan Real Estate Co., Ltd. (hereinafter collectively referred to as Zhengquan Holdings), the predecessor of Zhengquan Holdings, acquired 6.81% of the shares of Minzu Securities held by Shijiazhuang Commercial Bank for 291 million yuan, and the price-to-book ratio of the transaction was 2.75 times.At that time, Shijiazhuang Commercial Bank was the fourth largest shareholder of Minzu Securities. In December 2009, the above-mentioned equity was publicly listed on the Beijing Equity Exchange.However, other shareholders such as Capital Airport and Oriental Group, which have the right to transfer first, did not participate in the delisting.On June 13, 2010, the China Securities Regulatory Commission approved the transaction, and Zhengquan's controlling party surfaced.
According to the Dalian Municipal Procuratorate's allegations, in 2009, Guo Wengui learned that Shijiazhuang Commercial Bank wanted to transfer its 6.81% stake in Minzu Securities. In order to acquire this part of the stake, Guo Wengui ordered Guo Hanqiao and Zhao Dajian to be responsible for the specific operations.Because Dongfang Group, the shareholder of Minzu Securities, was unwilling to give up the acquisition, Guo Wengui found Ma Jian. The two ordered Guo Hanqiao and Gao Hui, then deputy director of the 13th Division of the Ministry of State Security, to go to Dongfang Group many times to threaten Zhang Hongwei, the chairman of the group, and to force Dongfang toThe Group waives the right of first refusal.
The testimonies of Guo Hanqiao, Zhao Dajian and others issued in the trial showed that in 2008, due to the introduction of the policy of one participation and one control, the Capital Airport Group had to deal with the shares of Minzu Securities.After obtaining the on-the-spot consent, Zhao Dajian pointed out the existing difficulties, because minority shareholders enjoy the right of first refusal, and it would be difficult to acquire if they do not give up. Moreover, Zhengquan Holdings is a private enterprise, and the first part of the China Securities Regulatory Commission will not allow unqualified private enterprises to also acquire state-owned assets.Guo Wengui said that he and Ma Jian, the deputy minister of security, are good friends, and if anyone competes with us or blocks the acquisition, he will ask Ma Jian to come forward.
Afterwards, Zhao Dajian provided Guo Hanqiao and Guo Wengui with information on the sale of shares by Shijiazhuang Commercial Bank, a minority shareholder of Minzu Securities.Guo Hanqiao said that Guo Wengui ordered me to proceed immediately.Zhang Hongwei of the Eastern Group did not give up. Zhao Dajian and I talked to Zhang Hongwei.
Faced with Guo Wengui who broke out halfway, the Eastern Group was forced to withdraw.Zhang Hongwei’s testimony stated: Our group and Shijiazhuang Commercial Bank have negotiated the terms of the acquisition of equity and prepared sufficient funds. At the last minute of the listing and publicity, Zhengquan Company signed up to delist and compete with us.The next day, Gao Hui, deputy director of the Ministry of National Security, and others made it clear to me that we should not compete with Zhengquan Company any more, give up the right of first refusal, and put pressure on me on the grounds that national interests are paramount. Finally, we were forced to give up.acquisition.
Set strict transfer conditions for holding Minzu Securities
Taking the acquisition of 6.81% of Minzu Securities held by Shijiazhuang Commercial Bank as a springboard, Guo Wengui acquired 61.25% of the shares held by Capital Airport Group, the major shareholder of Minzu Securities, a year later.
Since Capital Airport, the largest shareholder of Ethnic Securities, also controls Jinyuan Securities, in December 2010, Capital Airport announced the transfer of 61.25% of the state-owned equity of Ethnic Securities.On January 13, 2011, the equity was listed on the Beijing Equity Exchange at a price of 1.6 billion yuan.This price is considered the price of cabbage.
The listing notice shows that the evaluation base date is June 30, 2010, the book value of the net assets of Minzu Securities is 1.781 billion yuan, and the evaluation value is 2.504 billion yuan.At that time, some media pointed out that for the equity transfer of unlisted securities companies, the general transfer price was 2-3 times the price-to-book ratio.If calculated based on the price-to-book ratio of 2.75 times when Zhengquan Holdings acquired the equity of Minzu Securities from Shijiazhuang Commercial Bank a year ago, the equity of Minzu Securities held by Capital Airport should be worth at least 3 billion yuan.
However, Capital Airport sets a high threshold for bidders, that is, a joint transferee composed of more than three wholly state-owned enterprises (non-financial institutions), each company's paid-in capital is not less than 50 billion yuan, and its net assets at the end of 2009 are not less than200 billion yuan.This is basically an unsatisfied condition, resulting in no one being delisted when the listing period of Minzu Securities expires.Among the five original shareholders with priority transfer rights, only Guo Wengui's Zhengquan Real Estate submitted an application for transfer.After the approval of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, Zhengquan Real Estate became the largest shareholder of Minzu Securities, holding a total of 68.07% of the shares.Later, Guo Wengui increased the shareholding ratio to 84.4% through capital increase.
Behind the scenes of this process is also the strong intervention of Ma Jian and others.Prosecutors charged that in 2010, during the transfer of 61.25% of the shares held by Minzu Securities in Capital Airport, Guo Wengui conspired with Ma Jian to instigate Gao Hui and Guo Hanqiao to go to Capital Airport to talk with company executives and threaten them, forcing the capital toThe airport violated the principle of fair competition and set up transfer conditions favorable to Zhengquan Holdings.After Guo Wengui learned that Dongfang Group intends to participate in this acquisition, he directly approached Zhang Hongwei to talk to Zhang Hongwei through Ma Jian and others to create pressure, and ordered Gao Hui, Guo Hanqiao, and Zhao Dajian to threaten Dongfang Group, forcing Dongfang Group to give up the right of first refusal again.
The testimony of Guo Hanqiao during the trial showed that the transfer conditions of the Capital Airport were set by Zhengquan Holdings.Guo Wengui asked me to set the transfer conditions to exclude other companies from participating in the bidding.The conditions are very harsh, and the disguise is to transfer the equity to Zhengquan.Because Gao Hui and others from the Ministry of Security came forward, Capital Airport did not dare to confront, so it was forced to follow the transfer conditions we set.
After the shares held by Capital Airport were listed, Guo Hanqiao, Zhao Dajian and others came forward to do work again to make each shareholder give up the right of first refusal.Guo Hanqiao said: Only Zhang Hongwei of the Eastern Group will not give up, for this matter II beat him at least three times and threatened each time, but Zhang Hongwei still didn't give up.Guo Wengui said that he would ask people from the Ministry of Security to put pressure on Zhang Hongwei again.
Under the pressure of Ma Jian and others, Zhang Hongwei was finally forced to give up again.He said: Ma Jian asked me to meet with me many times because of this matter, and asked me to give up the acquisition. Under pressure, our group gave up the acquisition.
According to a previous report by Caixin Weekly, an industry insider who is familiar with Minzu Securities also confirmed to Caixin reporters that during the capital airport equity transfer and subsequent capital increase, officials from the Ministry of Security came to find the major shareholders of Minzu Securities, and their attitude was very good.They showed their identity and a letter of introduction, saying that Guo Wengui's company is their partner, and they hope to take care of them and lower the price, so that they will not treat you shareholders badly in the future.(See Power Hunter Guo Wengui for details)
In 2013, under the active promotion of Guo Wengui, Minzu Securities held a shareholder meeting and decided to increase capital and share in two batches. After the first batch of capital increase of Zhengquan Holdings was completed, Guo Wengui instructed Zhao Dajian to participate in the second batch of capital increase in the name of Minzu Securities.The Eastern Group and other companies sent letters requesting not to increase capital.The prosecution accused that after being rejected by Dongfang Group, Guo Wengui and Ma Jian instructed Zhao Dajian and Gao Hui to go to Dongfang Group to threaten Zhang Hongwei, forcing Dongfang Group to give up the capital increase.In 2014, the equity of Minzu Securities held by Zhengquan Holdings increased to 84.4%.
The prosecution charged that, after identification, Zhengquan Holdings had made a total profit of 11.904 billion yuan through the above-mentioned criminal acts of forced trading.
Misappropriating 2.05 billion yuan
The cash flow of Minzu Securities is the main target that Guo Wengui coveted. After he took control of Minzu Securities, he used Minzu Securities as his cash machine.
The prosecution accused that from September to December 2014, the defendants Zhao Dajian, Yang Ying, and Shan Weiliang contacted Minzu Securities and Hengfeng Bank without the consent of the shareholders of Minzu Securities and did not hold a board meeting.The interbank deposit agreement was signed as a cover, and an entrusted directional investment business cooperation agreement was privately signed with Hengfeng Bank as a drawer agreement. According to the instructions of Minzu Securities, Hengfeng Bank transferred 2.05 billion yuan of funds to Sichuan Trust in the form of purchasing a single trust product.Afterwards, Guo Wengui instructed Lu Tao, the vice president of Pangu Corporation, to withdraw all 2.05 billion yuan through Guangming Stone and other companies signing a single trust loan contract with Sichuan Trust.Under Guo Wengui's arrangement, 1.95 billion yuan was transferred to Pangu Corporation and its controlled Zhengzhou Yuda International Trade Co., Ltd., Zhengzhou Yuda International Trade Hotel Co., Ltd., etc., for repayment, loan repayment and other business activities;With the consent of Guo Wengui, 100 million yuan was embezzled and used by Guangming Stone Industry.
The testimony of Zhao Dajian issued by the prosecution during the trial showed: In September 2014, Guo Wengui asked the executives of our Minzu Securities to raise funds for him... Guo Wengui’s financing means that Minzu Securities’ own funds are provided for Guo Wengui and its actual controlcompanies use.Guo Wengui wants to use Minzu Securities as a money bag, which can be used at any time when there is a shortage of money.
According to the previous investigation by the Caixin reporter, the illegal use of the 2.05 billion yuan of funds by Minzu Securities was finally discovered. In the 2014 financial report, the accounting firm issued an audit report with qualified opinions:The 2.05 billion interbank agreement deposits deposited in Hengfeng Bank are listed.When the accounting firm carried out the letter confirmation procedure, it only obtained the fund certificate issued by the bank's capital operation center, but failed to obtain the letter of inquiry that met the requirements of the Ministry of Finance and the People's Bank of China.
In September 2015, due to the misappropriation of the above-mentioned 2.05 billion yuan and other issues, Minzu Securities was investigated by the China Securities Regulatory Commission.As of January 8, 2016, the above-mentioned seven trust investment plans totaling 2.05 billion yuan have all expired. The prosecutor said in today's trial that before the case, 1.741 billion yuan of the 2.05 billion yuan fund has not yet been returned.
The five defendants pleaded guilty and repented
During the court investigation stage of the trial, with the exception of Jia Xin, the litigation representative of the defendant Zhengquan Holdings, who stated that he did not know or did not know the facts of the alleged crime, five people including Guo Hanqiao, Zhao Dajian, Shan Weiliang, Yang Ying, and Lu TaoThe defendants all stated that the charges were true and pleaded guilty.
During the court debate, Guo Hanqiao’s defense lawyer stated that Guo Hanqiao was an accomplice and only played a secondary role in the crime of forced trading. Although the defendant threatened Zhang Hongwei and the Capital Airport in accordance with Guo Wengui’s request and the instructions of respecting Guo Wengui and others, exerted pressure, but compared with other people in this case, Guo Hanqiao's subjective malignancy was not deep, and his behavior only played an auxiliary role, so he should be given a lighter or mitigated punishment;sentencing conditions.
Zhao Dajian's defender stated that Zhao Dajian had no objection to the public prosecution's charges of the crime of forced trading and misappropriation of funds, and he had confessed his guilt and repented in good faith many times in court and before;In addition, Zhao Dajian voluntarily pleaded guilty, did not actually make any profit, and actively pursued and recovered money, recovering hundreds of millions of yuan in economic losses.
Shan Weiliang's defender stated that Shan Weiliang was an accomplice, and he confessed his actions truthfully after arriving at the case.Yang Ying's defender stated that Yang Ying was an accomplice and confessed to the crime after arriving at the case, pleaded guilty voluntarily, and requested a lighter punishment as appropriate.Lu Tao's defender stated that Lu Tao was an accomplice. In the joint crime of embezzlement of funds, Lu Tao played a secondary, subordinate, helping and auxiliary role, and the degree of participation was low, and the subjective fault was small. After arriving at the case, he truthfully confessed and pleaded guiltyGood attitude, it is recommended that the court give a lighter punishment.
At the end of the trial in the morning, the presiding judge announced an adjournment. After the adjournment, the collegial panel will conduct deliberations based on the facts found in the trial and select a date to announce the verdict publicly.■
