Prosecutors challenged with emerging new financial crimes

Prosecutors are grappling with challenges caused by new emerging financial crimes, according to Pudong New Area People’s Procuratorate.

In one case, a suspect bought stock trading software in Hong Kong and installed it on his computer at home on the Chinese mainland to set up an online stock trading platform, prosecutors said.

He lured people into trading stocks on his platform by promising twice the returns if they won on the stock market. He charged a 5-percent brokerage fee, prosecutors said.

The case is complicated because the man didn't ensure stock traders that they they could have their initial investment back, prosecutors said, so he couldn't be charged with the illegal pooling of public deposits.

“It was hard for us to find out which crime we could charge him for,” prosecutor Pang Zheng said. “Finally, we decided to charge him with the illegal opening of a gambling venue.”

Last year, Pudong prosecutors charged 169 people in 122 cases involving companies based in the city’s free trade zone and those engaging in scientific and technological development.

Figures showed financial crimes remained the top problem. Of the 169 suspects, 49 people were charged for financial frauds such as credit card fraud and illegal fundraising, and 27 people were charged with sabotaging financial management order through actions such as illegally pooling public deposits.