The commercial dispute and entanglement between Luo Liguo, a billionaire in the silicon industry and the actual controller of Hesheng Silicon Industry (SH: 603260), and Fang Hongcheng, the former general manager, have not subsided for a long time, and have escalated with the latter's prosecution on suspicion of "** embezzlement".
Huaxia Energy Network learned that at noon on January 29, Fang Hongcheng, the former general manager of Hesheng Silicon Industry, and his brother Fang Hongxing were suspected of the case of "non-state functionaries and embezzlement", which was officially reported in the fourth court of the Pinghu People's Court in Jiaxing City, Zhejiang.
According to the relevant laws and regulations of our country, the standard for filing and prosecuting the crime of "non-state functionary" is more than 30,000 yuan. According to the previous announcement of Hesheng Silicon, this phase of the case was originally scheduled for November 13 last year**, but it has been postponed to this day due to multiple reasons.
Huaxia Energy Network saw at the scene that at about 8 o'clock in the morning on the 29th, more than 50 people lined up at the entrance of the Pinghu People's Court, waiting for the trial to observe. The court is also on guard, and visitors not only have to register their ID numbers and mobile phone numbers, but also ask about their relationship with both parties to the case, and even need to register their workplaces.
The queue outside the Pinghu City People's Court (photo by Huaxia Energy Network Tian Si).
However, the ** time scheduled for 10 a.m. was postponed for 2 hours until around 12:20 p.m. It is reported that the reason for the postponement is that the lawyers of the defendants Hongcheng and Fang Hongxing have disagreements with the court on the arrangement of observing the trial. In the end, 40 people entered the observation room and passed the trial.
After a brief adjournment of the case, the case lasted for only one hour in the morning and was again at 2:30 p.m.
Fang Hongcheng was emotional in court, and the trial was interrupted for a time. After continuing, Fang Hongcheng reported in court that the Jiaxing Port Management Committee and other departments had the problem of covering up the environmental protection of Hesheng Silicon Industry not meeting the standards, and the court gave Fang Hongcheng enough time to make a statement.
On the 26th, Fang Hongcheng's relatives revealed, "In front of the court, Hongcheng and Fang Hongxing have applied to the court to notify Luo Liguo and his daughter Luo Yi (vice chairman of Hesheng Silicon) to appear in court to testify, and the court has also notified the witnesses to appear in court in accordance with the law." However, Huaxia Energy Network saw that Luo Liguo and others did not appear in court on the first day of trial.
A practicing lawyer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that in a public prosecution case, "if the court has officially notified the parties, if they do not want to appear in court and need to explain the situation, they are obliged to appear in court without a legitimate reason." ”
Huaxia Energy Network noticed that there were people working for Hesheng Silicon Industry who also attended the trial, but the person said, "I don't know the specific circumstances of the case." ”
As the former general manager of the listed company and the current entrepreneur in charge of the two companies, why is Fang Hongcheng suspected of committing "embezzlement" and "** crimes"? Why did Luo Liguo, a boss in the silicon industry, question that the heroes who have worked together for many years and helped him start an industrial silicon business should be sent to the Public Security Bureau? There are many questions behind the case that need to be answered.
The opposition between the two parties began with an equity dispute
What made this incident widely concerned and caused an uproar was a real-name report letter.
On November 12 last year, Fang Hongcheng's wife Sun Lichen published the article "Real-name Report to Zhejiang Billionaire Luo Liguo: Threatening City Leaders to Interfere in the Justice and Frame Zhongliang by Relocating and Listing Hesheng Silicon Industry" through "Fang Hongcheng's Family"**, accusing Luo Liguo, the actual controller of Hesheng Silicon Industry, of interfering in the judiciary, which made Fang Hongcheng deeply involved in the "unjust case". At that time, Fang Hongcheng had been placed under residential surveillance for 17 months.
Sun Lichen told Huaxia Energy Network that Fang Hongcheng was dug into Hesheng Co., Ltd. by Luo Liguo in 2011 to help him "cross-border" to fight for the industrial silicon business, and the two sides started a business together.
From 2011 to December 2014, Fang Hong served as the general manager of Halcyon Co., Ltd.; In December 2014, he was appointed as the general manager of Hesheng Silicon; In June 2015, he served as the director and general manager of Hesheng Silicon Industry until December 2018, when Fang Hongcheng resigned and completely withdrew from Hesheng Silicon Industry.
Two years later, Fang Hongcheng started his own company in the field of new materials and continued to start his business. In June 2022, Hesheng Silicon Industry "sent Fang Hongcheng to the Public Security Bureau" in the name of commercial **.
On January 26, Fang Hongcheng's wife Sun Lichen once again reported Luo Liguo and Hesheng Silicon Industry through the family of Fang Hongcheng's injustice case in a public document, including Luo Liguo's "forgery of official documents", "concealment of hazardous waste disposal" and "fraudulent listing" when he was listed in 2017.
At this time, there were only two days before the case of Fang Hongcheng's crime of non-state functionaries and embezzlement. The article, which was first reported on November 12 last year, has been deleted for unknown reasons.
In this regard, Huaxia Energy Network called the investor relations department of Hesheng Silicon Industry, and the staff responded: The so-called report of the other party (Fang Hongcheng's wife) is a means to try to influence the lawsuit, and the relevant matters are subject to the company's announcement and judgment.
Ms. Sun's public whistleblower caught the attention of regulators. On January 28 (Sunday), Hesheng Silicon announced that it had received a regulatory work letter from the Shanghai Stock Exchange on "clarifying the regulatory requirements for the company's relevant reporting matters". Regarding the reported suspected falsification of tax documents, Hesheng Silicon said that the relevant matters are being verified.
Shanghai Stock Exchange Regulatory Work Letter (**Hesheng Silicon Industry Announcement).
The reason why the two sides have come to such an inseparable point is that at first it was due to the equity incentive dispute before and after the listing of Hesheng Silicon.
In September 2015, Luo Liguo signed an equity incentive agreement with the general manager Fang Hongcheng and other key members of the management team through the shareholding platform company, stipulating that the company would cash in the relevant equity rights and interests after the company's successful listing. In January 2017, due to concerns about Fang Hongcheng's job hopping, Luo Liguo transferred part of the equity under his name to Fang Hongcheng for a fee, and Luo Liguo held it on his behalf, which belonged to Fang Hongcheng's investment. After the successful listing of Hesheng Silicon in 2017, "Luo Liguo was unwilling to perform the equity incentive agreement and hold shares on behalf of him", Fang Hongcheng sued to defend his rights, and the two sides completely turned against each other. (See Huaxia Energy Network's previous article: "Real-name reporting!") The former general manager of Hesheng Silicon is in the detention center and wants to go to court with the actual controller Luo Liguo? 》）
Fang Hongcheng's relatives revealed to Huaxia Energy Network that Fang Hongcheng only claimed 9 million yuan at that time, but in fact, the equity value of this part after listing was far more than that. Another reason why Luo Liguo was unwilling to fulfill his promise and file a criminal complaint was that Fang Hongcheng's company had business competition with Hesheng Silicon, but Fang Hongcheng had already passed a non-compete agreement when he started his business.
The dispute between Luo Liguo and Fang Hongcheng has gone through many rounds and has been escalating. Luo Liguo's accusation, after investigation, was initially investigated by the public security organs and did not file the case on the grounds that there were "no criminal facts" or later withdrew the case. Later, on June 13, 2022, Fang Hongcheng was summoned and detained; He was placed under "residential surveillance" the next day. In September 2022, Fang Hongcheng and Fang Hongxing were arrested by the Pinghu City Procuratorate on suspicion of being a non-state functionary, and they were detained in Tongxiang City.
There are three major questions to be answered at the trial
Hesheng Silicon Industry is a typical family-owned private enterprise, founded in 2005 by Luo Liguo, a native of Changhe Town, Cixi, Zhejiang. According to the 2021 Forbes Chinese mainland rich list, Luo Liguo ranked 20th with 137.2 billion yuan, becoming the richest man in Ningbo.
Such a billionaire, because only 9 million fell out with the professional managers they poached, which caused a lot of debates on the Internet about topics such as "unloading the mill and killing the donkey", "only sharing the joys and sorrows, but not the common wealth". With the development of the whistleblower letter and the trial, more fierce information such as equity disputes, intra-industry competition, forgery of official documents, and listing fraud have been exposed, and the attention of the incident has become higher and higher.
According to the dispute accusation materials of the two parties and the on-site observation on the first day of the trial, there are still three major questions to be solved in the case:
Question 1: In December 2021, when Fang Hongcheng was first reported for the "crime of embezzlement", the Jiaxing Municipal Public Security Bureau "withdrew the case" because "there were no criminal facts". Later, he was arrested again, is it really because "Luo Liguo is to move the listed company Hesheng Silicon Industry out of Jiaxing as a reason to coerce Jiaxing City's ** other party Hongcheng to file a criminal case again"?
Now, as the case reaches the trial stage, will the Fang Hongcheng brothers be convicted of the same crime and the same charges? This is pending further trial proceedings in the case.
Question 2: Is Luo Liguo, the actual controller of Hesheng Silicon Industry, involved in more collusion with local ** interference in the judiciary? According to Fang Hongcheng, he said in court that he had previously reported to the relevant departments about the safety production of Hesheng Silicon Industry and the illegal handling of low-boiling materials, but the reply he received afterwards was "not found". In addition, today Fang Hongcheng also reported in court in real name that the Jiaxing Port Management Committee and other departments had the problem of covering up the environmental protection of Hesheng Silicon Industry, which needs to be further investigated.
Question 3: According to public project information, the sales of "hydrolyzed oil" of Hesheng Silicon Industry during the period from 2012 to 2020 reached more than 4,000 tons. So, is the disposal of hazardous waste in the silicone manufacturing process compliant? If there is a hidden danger of environmental pollution, has it caused serious damage to the environment?
At today's trial, Fang Hongcheng once again stated what he learned about the disposal of hazardous waste, saying: "Before 2016, low-boiling materials were decomposed into slag in boiling water and buried in the fields of Jiaxing." If this is the case, the problem of environmental pollution cannot be ignored, and it is probably the most concerned issue for the local public.
According to the court's arrangement, the case is expected to be extended to February 2. Before the official verdict comes out, there are still more issues waiting to be concluded in this three-year "grievance and hatred" between the silicon tycoon Luo Liguo and Fang Hongcheng's brothers, and Huaxia Energy Network will continue to follow up and pay attention.
*Please indicate the source, article**: Huaxia Energy Network, **hxny3060).