May 15 (Xinhua) — According to a message on the WeChat public account of the "Shanghai No. 1 Intermediate People's Court," on the morning of May 15, 2024, the Shanghai No. 1 Intermediate People's Court (hereinafter referred to as the Shanghai No. 1 Intermediate Court) publicly pronounced its judgment in accordance with the law in the fund-raising fraud case of defendant Zhou Zhifeng, sentencing Zhou Zhifeng to life imprisonment for the crime of fund-raising fraud, depriving him of political rights for life, and confiscating all of his personal property.

Image source: WeChat public account of the "Shanghai No. 1 Intermediate Court"

　　Upon trial, it was ascertained that: defendant Zhou Zhifeng was the actual controller of Shanghai Yongfu Investment Management Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Yongfu Company), and in 2017 acquired Laiwu Huipiaozhan Information Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Huipiaozhan Company). In order to seek illegal benefits, Yongfu Company launched fund products such as Fuying No. 1 and Fuying No. 2, and set up offline stores, using methods such as false publicity and fabricated uses of funds, and, under the name of investing in highly liquid, low-risk financial products such as electronic bank acceptance bills of Huipiaozhan Company, promised an annualized rate of return of 6.5%–13% to illegally raise funds from the general public. According to audit findings, as of January 2020, funds totaling more than RMB 3.3 billion had been illegally raised from more than 400 investors, causing actual economic losses of more than RMB 1.2 billion to more than 200 investors.

　　The Shanghai No. 1 Intermediate Court held that defendant Zhou Zhifeng, as the actual controller of Yongfu Company and Huipiaozhan Company, for the purpose of illegal possession, used fraudulent methods to illegally raise funds in a huge amount, and his conduct constituted the crime of fund-raising fraud. Zhou Zhifeng's fund-raising fraud caused especially significant economic losses to the victims and seriously disrupted the state's financial management order. In light of the facts, nature, circumstances, and degree of social harm of this case, the court made the above judgment in accordance with the law.

　　Twenty people, including representatives of the victims, attended the pronouncement of the judgment. The judicial authorities of this city will continue to strengthen the recovery of assets involved in the case and the recovery of losses.