Guangzhou lawyer Zhang Jing answered: It is necessary for the judge to make a determination according to the facts of the case and evidence. In practice, sometimes it is difficult to distinguish between investments, loans, and loans. The investment contract is clearly signed, and it is agreed that the principal will be guaranteed and returned. In the following case, the two parties negotiated to invest in the quarry together and signed an investment contract, but the contract also stipulated that the principal should be guaranteed and returned when due. In the process of performance, arrears were issued, and WeChat also urged repayment. In the end, the court determined that it was a loan and ordered the defendant to repay the loan.
Excerpt from the verdict:
The court held that this case was a private lending dispute, and the focus of the dispute in this case was whether there was a private lending relationship between the two parties. Li filed a private lending dispute in this case on the basis of the "Receipt of Debt" issued by Huang on May 8, 2020, and Huang claimed that the 200,000 yuan involved in the case was Li's investment in a quarry. According to the court's analysis, firstly, from the situation that the two parties signed the "Quarry Investment Contract Agreement" on April 29, 2020, Li had the intention or original intention to invest 200,000 yuan in Huang's existing quarry for a period of one year However, judging from the content of the agreement, on the one hand, it is mentioned that Li's investment funds are included in the loss and shared risk of the quarry, and on the other hand, it is stated that Huang needs to return the principal of 200,000 yuan invested by Li after the completion of the quarry project, so it is only based on the "Quarry Investment Contract Agreement" It is not enough to determine whether the two parties are a real investment partnership, or whether it is a loan relationship in the name of investment Secondly, Li has transferred 170,000 yuan from April 27 to 29, 2020, although Li is in 20205.At 00:16 a.m. on 8, he sent a message to Huang's WeChat that "a total of 200,000 yuan was invested", but Huang issued a "note of arrears" on the same day to confirm that "200,000 yuan is owed for investment in the quarry" and "after negotiation between the two parties, the arrears will be paid off on February 1, 2021", etc., which shows that the two parties finally determined that the 200,000 yuan belonged to the loan and clarified the repayment period. Thirdly, it can be confirmed from the WeChat chat records of both parties that Huang did not refute Li's repayment claim many times, and still expressed his willingness to repay the loan until April 2021. Li admitted that he received a transfer of 5,000 yuan from Huang on April 30, 2021 and a loan of 30,000 yuan previously owed to Huang, totaling 350,000 yuan to offset the principal of the arrears in this case, and this court accordingly ordered Huang to repay the principal of 165,000 yuan and interest to Li.