Units or individuals that do not possess the qualifications of an employing entity illegally recruit workers and refuse to pay labor remuneration shall be investigated for criminal responsibility for the crime of refusing to pay labor remuneration.
On December 22, the Supreme People's Procuratorate released a typical case of punishing the crime of refusing to pay labor remuneration in accordance with the law, and the "Case of Chai Moumou's Refusal to Pay Labor Remuneration" was selected.
According to the facts of the case, in March 2021, the defendant Chai Moumou signed a real estate project contracting contract with an engineering construction company in Linghai City, Liaoning Province (hereinafter referred to as Linghai Engineering Construction Company). During the construction process, Linghai Engineering Construction Company had paid wages to Chai Moumou in full and on schedule in accordance with the progress of the project, and Chai Moumou used the method of making a false wage table for migrant workers to evade supervision, and continued to use the money that should be paid to migrant workers to pay for other projects and personal expenses contracted by him.
As of November 2021, Chai Moumou owed a total of more than 10.15 million yuan in wages to 587 migrant workers. At the same time, Chai Moumou concealed the fact that Linghai Engineering Construction Company had fully allocated the wages of migrant workers, and falsely claimed that the wages of migrant workers should be paid by Linghai Engineering Construction Company, causing more than 300 migrant workers to petition five times at the city and county levels, causing a bad social impact.
On February 14, 2022, the Linghai Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau issued the "Labor and Social Security Supervision Rectification Instruction within a Time Limit" to Chai Moumou, ordering him to pay the arrears of wages in full. Chai Moumou used methods such as turning off his mobile phone, changing his residence, and hiding in other places to evade payment, and still did not pay within the time limit for rectification. On March 13, 2022, Chai Moumou was arrested by the Linghai Municipal Public Security Bureau in Chaoyang City, Liaoning Province. Hou Linghai Engineering Construction Company paid part of Chai's arrears of wages.
On February 28, 2022, the Linghai City Public Security Bureau of Liaoning Province filed a case for investigation against Chai Moumou, and on March 13 of the same year, Chai Moumou was arrested by the Linghai City Public Security Bureau, and on April 11, the Linghai City People's Procuratorate approved his arrest. On April 19, 2022, the Linghai Municipal Public Security Bureau transferred the case to review and prosecution, and on April 22, the procuratorate initiated a public prosecution against Chai Moumou. On November 16 of the same year, the Linghai Municipal People's Court sentenced the defendant Chai Moumou to five years imprisonment and a fine of 20,000 yuan for the crime of refusing to pay labor remuneration. Defendant Chai XX appealed against the judgment. On May 17, 2023, the Jinzhou Intermediate People's Court ruled to reject the appeal and uphold the original judgment.
According to the Supreme People's Procuratorate, during the review and prosecution stage, the procuratorate explained the law and criminal policies to Chai Moumou, educated and persuaded him, and tried to recover the arrears of wages for migrant workers, but Chai Moumou still did not admit guilt and repented, concealed the whereabouts of the funds involved in the case, and insisted on refusing to pay. In this regard, the procuratorial organs promptly carried out their own supplementary investigations, went to the Linghai Engineering Construction Company to obtain evidence such as the project contract, the record of the payment of project funds, and the list of wages paid to migrant workers, and listened to the opinions of the person in charge of the Linghai Engineering Construction Company on the handling of the case. So far, the evidence base has been further consolidated, and the facts of the case have been clarified.
Based on Chai Moumou's actual performance of deceiving laborers, transferring property, escaping and losing contact, and refusing to pay arrears of wages, the procuratorate initiated a public prosecution against Chai Moumou in accordance with the law within three days of accepting the case, highlighting the orientation of quick punishment.
The procuratorate found that Chai XX had a large number of recipients of wage arrears and a particularly huge amount of wages, and that he not only fled and lost contact, concealed the whereabouts of the funds involved in the case, and refused to pay the arrears of wages, but also deliberately misled the victim groups of migrant workers to petition collectively, seriously disrupting local social order, and should be a circumstance of "causing serious consequences" as provided for in article 276-1 of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China, and applying an upgraded statutory sentence.
When expounding on the typical significance of this case, the Supreme People's Procuratorate stated that although the crime of refusing to pay labor remuneration is a misdemeanor, there are also circumstances that should be severely punished. Where the crime of refusing to pay labor remuneration is constituted, the amount of maliciously owed wages is particularly huge, the number of recipients of wage arrears is large, the person who has fled and lost contact, or concealed the whereabouts of the funds involved in the case, and there is also a situation where the victim group petitions, causing a heinous social impact, it is "causing serious consequences", and the upgraded legally-prescribed punishment should be applied in accordance with law, and the punishment and punishment should be severely punished in accordance with law, effectively giving play to the punishment and deterrent effect of criminal punishment, accurately implementing the criminal policy of blending leniency and severity, distinguishing between circumstances, and making it so that severity is severe. In addition, if a unit or individual that does not have the qualifications of an employing entity illegally recruits workers and refuses to pay labor remuneration, and meets the statutory requirements, it shall be investigated for criminal responsibility for the crime of refusing to pay labor remuneration.
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