In criminal cases, it is often the breadwinner of the family who is arrested, and those left behind are often mothers or elderly parents who know nothing about the case.

In this panic and helpless moment, how can the family members find a reliable lawyer for their family members as soon as possible? And what should the family members do to better help the parties and push the case in a favorable direction?

Just last week, our criminal team handled a case in which a client was accused of fraud and successfully secured bail for the client. So let’s take this case as an example to talk about it with you. (Note: The names of people and places in this article are all pseudonyms, and the details of the case have also been technically processed to protect the privacy of the parties involved.)

Author of this article:

Lawyers Shao Shiwei and Gao Mengyang

The police suddenly came to my house and took my husband away

One morning, Mrs. Wang and her family were sitting around the dining table eating breakfast, preparing to send their children to kindergarten later. On this ordinary day, there was a sudden knock on the door.

“Boom boom boom—”

The moment Mr. Wang opened the door, three or four uniformed law enforcement officers immediately appeared in front of him. One of them showed his police ID and said, "We are police officers from the XX Public Security Bureau. You are suspected of fraud and we need you to cooperate with our investigation." As soon as he finished speaking, cold handcuffs were handcuffed on Mr. Wang's wrists. Before Mrs. Wang could react, her husband was taken away.

The door slammed shut, leaving only Mrs. Wang standing there in a daze and her frightened child crying loudly.

"How is this possible?" Her mind went blank and she couldn't understand: how could her husband, who was usually so honest and never caused trouble, be suspected of fraud?

She forced herself to calm down, and after settling her children, she immediately rushed to the police station to inquire about the situation. But the police told her that because this was a criminal case, Mrs. Wang could not see her husband at the moment. She could only wait at the door of the police station for two days, and finally received a detention notice - it clearly stated: Wang Moumou was suspected of fraud.

What is even more worrying is that the police officers at the police station admitted that they actually didn’t know why Mr. Wang was arrested - they were just assisting in the execution of the task, and the real case handling unit was in a fifth-tier small city in Yunnan. Now, Mr. Wang has been temporarily detained in a local detention center, waiting for the police there to come for interrogation. But they have not received any news on when the Yunnan police will arrive.

It was then that Mrs. Wang learned that only lawyers could enter the detention center to see her husband. But she was confused for a moment - she had been at home taking care of the children for these years and had almost no contact with society. There was no lawyer's number in her mobile phone address book. Where could she find a reliable lawyer who could really help her husband?

She suddenly remembered her husband's old friend, Brother Zhao, who was a righteous man and well-informed. So she called Brother Zhao with the idea of giving it a try. After learning about the situation, Brother Zhao immediately started to inquire about it, and finally contacted us.

What on earth did my husband do that was illegal?

When we first communicated with Mrs. Wang, since the family was not clear about the specific actions Mr. Wang was suspected of, we, as lawyers, needed to provide constant guidance and help the client recall and restore the relevant facts as much as possible.

We asked: "Has Mr. Wang had any contact with any strangers recently? Has he participated in any large transactions?"

Mrs. Wang said that she had been thinking about it for the past few days. She emphasized that her husband was a very good person to his family and friends, and he was a decent person at ordinary times, and it was impossible for him to defraud others. The only abnormal situation she could think of was that Mr. Wang told her last month that he sold a sum of USDT virtual currency.

We continued to guide the family members to further recall and add details. After an evening of in-depth communication, we learned that Mr. Wang’s father had cancer and had to undergo surgery, and he had been under great financial pressure recently. Last month, he cashed out some of his Bitcoin. However, Mrs. Wang was not aware of the specific transaction process, details, and the identity of the other party.

After hearing this, we can basically judge that Mr. Wang may have unfortunately received the victim's fraudulent funds from the trading party during the U-selling process. Coincidentally, another victim reported the case, and a fifth-tier city in Yunnan is most likely the place where the victim reported the case.

Based on the preliminary clues of the case, we quickly started preparations. Attorney Gao Mengyang from our team was dispatched immediately and quickly developed a detailed meeting plan, including a list of questions for the meeting, preliminary legal analysis, and several response strategies for possible developments of the case. Afterwards, Attorney Gao set off for the detention center to prepare for the meeting with Mr. Wang.

Unforeseen disaster

When I met Mr. Wang in the detention center, he had been detained for two weeks. As the Yunnan police had not arrived yet and the local police had not conducted a substantive interrogation, Mr. Wang still did not know why he was detained and was extremely confused.

The lawyer asked, "Did you make a U payment last month, and the amount was not small?"

Mr. Wang slapped his thigh and suddenly realized: "So it's this!" But at the same time, he was also puzzled and asked, " Lawyer Gao, I was so careful and it was a normal withdrawal at this time, how could I be involved in the case?"

After further communication, we got more detailed information. Mr. Wang is the owner of a restaurant with a master's degree. He started to invest in virtual currencies a few years ago, but he has always been very cautious. As a long-term holder, he only invests in Bitcoin, and for many years he has only made deposits and never made withdrawals.

However, due to the difficulties in the catering industry in the past two years, the family encountered a major change - the elderly had cancer and needed surgery, plus various expenses such as mortgage, the funds were temporarily tight. Therefore, Mr. Wang considered cashing out a small part of the Bitcoin he held. He first transferred the Bitcoin from the OE platform to the BA exchange, and then completed a withdrawal transaction from a five-star merchant specially found by Binance, and the other party deposited the corresponding consideration of 500,000 yuan into Mr. Wang's account.

Although the police had not yet questioned Mr. Wang until the lawyer met with him, based on the accounts of Mr. Wang and Mrs. Wang, as well as our experience in handling a large number of related cases, we preliminarily determined that the reason Mr. Wang was detained was most likely that he inadvertently received the stolen money involved in the case during the withdrawal process.

On this basis, we developed a detailed legal analysis and response strategy for Mr. Wang. A few days later, the Yunnan police finally arrived to formally interrogate Mr. Wang. As we had predicted, the case was indeed related to the virtual currency transaction.

Thanks to the thorough preparation in the early stage, Mr. Wang was able to respond calmly during the interrogation and clearly expressed his position: it was just a normal virtual currency transaction, and he had no subjective intention to help fraud or assist money laundering. However, we also explained to Mr. Wang in advance: in judicial practice, even if the funds flowed in unintentionally, as long as there was an influx of stolen money, the investigating authorities would not easily release the person. Therefore, Mr. Wang was fully prepared for this.

After the interrogation, Mr. Wang was transferred to a local detention center in Yunnan to continue his detention. However, since we had fully communicated with Mr. Wang and his family, they had psychological expectations and knew that the next step was the battle.

"Return all the 500,000 yuan of stolen money and I'll grant you bail!"

After Mr. Wang was taken to Yunnan, Attorney Gao and Mrs. Wang also rushed there immediately. Through communication with the police officer in charge, we gradually learned the overall background of the case:

It turns out that the cause of this case was a local wealthy businessman who was defrauded. The amount involved was huge, and the public security organs attached great importance to it. This case has been listed as a large-scale online fraud case that was uniformly deployed by the superior public security organs and investigated across provinces. At present, more than 300 relevant personnel have been arrested and brought to justice across the country, and all of them are detained in the local detention center. In addition, we learned that the detention center in the area can accommodate up to 6,000 people, so they will not consider releasing some of the detained people due to the excessive number of detained people.

During the communication with the police, we also expressed our views: Mr. Wang was just selling the virtual currency he held normally, he did not participate in the fraud, nor did he collude with the fraudsters, so he could not be considered an accomplice. He should not be treated as a suspect just because the money he received was stolen money.

The attitude of the police in charge is:

"I understand what you said, and I agree with your point of view. But I don't have the final say on this case. We are now traveling around the country to arrest people, and we have already arrested hundreds of people, all of whom are detained here. It is impossible for us to let you go without any reason. If you want to apply for bail, it's very simple - you have to return the 500,000 stolen money you received."

The police identified the 500,000 yuan that Mr. Wang earned from normal transactions as "stolen money" and demanded a full refund. However, this was the money that Mr. Wang earned from selling Us. At present, this money is identified as "stolen money" obtained illegally, which Mr. Wang and his wife cannot accept in any way. Moreover, after receiving this money, Mr. Wang used it to repay his previous consumer loan (medical expenses). Now he really cannot come up with this money.

At this time, Mr. Wang had been detained in the detention center for nearly three weeks. The client and his family were faced with the following realistic choices:

Either he pays back 500,000 yuan and tries to get bail pending trial; or he can only continue to be detained and await the final decision of the court.

Every difficulty is overcome

Although the initial conclusion reached during this communication with the police was that they would not release him easily, we did not gain nothing. As lawyers, we obtained a key piece of information: the police's current approach to Mr. Wang's case was highly consistent with our judgment of the approach when we first communicated with Mr. Wang, even when we did not yet have a grasp of the specific case. This means that the characterization of the case and its possible direction did not deviate from our prediction, which is crucial for our subsequent response.

What should we do next? We decided to use both soft and hard tactics to advance on two fronts.

On the one hand, we wrote a detailed legal opinion letter, and submitted it to the relevant leaders of the Public Security Bureau regarding the facts and legal basis that Mr. Wang did not commit a crime. At the same time, we continued to exert pressure through petition channels. On the other hand, we also suggested that Mrs. Wang come forward and communicate with the police officer in charge as a family member. With our assistance, she clearly expressed the family's predicament, Mr. Wang's personality, and the impact of this incident on the family. We fully let the case officers see from both rational and emotional levels that Mr. Wang was just an ordinary person who was wrongly involved.

We will not elaborate on the details of the game in the case handling process, but it can be said that each step was not easy. From the multiple rounds of "serious" confrontations between the lawyers and the case handlers, to Mr. Wang's perseverance in the detention center, to Mrs. Wang's cooperation with the lawyers, we continued to work hard from the three dimensions of law, procedure, and reason.

Finally, just last week, without paying a penny , we got the hard-earned decision of bail pending trial within 30 days, and Mr. Wang finally walked out of the detention center.

Off topic:

Some people may think that this should have been the result . He was just trading virtual currency with others and unfortunately received stolen money. He certainly should not pay it back and should not be held accountable.

But as a team of criminal lawyers that has handled a large number of similar cases, we must tell you that such cases are all too common in practice.

Because of a careless transaction that received stolen money, it is common for bank cards to be frozen and people to be accused of "assisting in fraud" or "covering up the truth." In many cases, investigators will make "repayment" a prerequisite before considering whether to unfreeze the account or grant bail pending trial.

There is a certain gap between ideal and reality. Rights must be fought for. Even if it is a reasonable demand, it may require constant persistence and effort in practice to succeed in defending rights. It is precisely because of this that after seeing a large number of cases where compensation is not refunded and bail is not granted, we can understand how hard it is to achieve this staged victory in this case.

Remember the past and learn from it

The purpose of writing this article is to hope that more friends who have not yet encountered criminal cases can prepare in advance - if similar situations unfortunately occur in the future, how should they prevent and respond.

We can summarize an important experience from this case. Why was Mr. Wang able to "pass every difficult level"? One of the key reasons is "harmony among people" - Mr. Wang and Mrs. Wang can give each other and the lawyer full trust. At the same time, they can follow the lawyer's advice and cooperate step by step, which is very important.

Why do I say that? Here we have to mention a case that is in sharp contrast to this case, a case that is a little regrettable.

Last year, we took over a case involving a programmer who was implicated in a case involving a platform where he had worked and was put in a detention center. His girlfriend found our team through online channels. After meeting with the lawyers in the detention center, they learned that there was no dispute that the platform model was suspected of pyramid selling, and that the client had resigned a few years ago due to concerns about risks, but he did not expect to be arrested a few years later. Therefore, he acknowledged the facts of the case and expressed his willingness to plead guilty and return the illegal gains. He hoped to get out on bail as soon as possible to avoid affecting his current work. Before entering the detention center, he specially contacted his friends to help him and the company take a few days off to deal with it for the time being.

However, after we explained our lawyers’ understanding of the platform model to the client’s girlfriend and his parents, the girlfriend could understand and accept it, but his mother firmly opposed her son’s confession and compensation. The mother insisted that her child had been excellent in both character and learning since childhood, and had received many scholarships. After graduation, he had been working in a big city and it was impossible for him to commit a crime. She believed that if the child was really guilty, the court should make the judgment. In addition, because the girlfriend shared the same view as us, the mother also had a lot of opinions about her and simply refused to communicate with her.

In the end, because he did not take action to return the precious gold within 37 days, the person is still in custody. Admittedly, we can understand the mother's love for her child. It is too difficult for an elderly person with a low level of education to understand why the Web3 project his son once participated in was suspected of pyramid selling. But sometimes I wonder if the person will blame his mother? Because after a year or so, when he comes out, he may have lost his job and his girlfriend of many years. Similar situations are not uncommon in criminal cases.

In many cases, the family's mainstay is often in trouble, but their fate is often in the hands of elderly parents who have little knowledge of the case, or mothers who have been out of touch with society for a long time. Admittedly, the love of these relatives for their families is unquestionable, but unfortunately, due to their limited knowledge, it is difficult for them to find a truly professional and reliable lawyer for their clients. In many cases, whether the family can find a lawyer who is serious and responsible for the client and the case depends entirely on luck.

In addition, even if a professional lawyer is found, the case progress is often hindered due to cognitive differences, communication barriers, and lack of trust. The family members may not understand the professional advice given by the lawyer, and may not be willing to cooperate with the implementation, resulting in missing the best time to deal with the case and making it difficult to smoothly advance the case.

Therefore, for the parties concerned, if we can communicate with our families more about our work content, projects we have done, and people we have come into contact with, especially when we are engaged in emerging industries or fields with blurred legal boundaries, and let our families know about our environment and possible risks as early as possible, then once an emergency really occurs, our families will not be confused and completely out of control. They are also more likely to understand why you find a certain lawyer and trust certain friends, and naturally they are more willing to cooperate with professionals to make response judgments.

Just like Mr. Wang and Mrs. Wang in this case, it was because of the high level of trust between each other and the lawyers that they were able to cooperate in the crisis and jointly bear this difficult time. This trust is not established temporarily, but comes from daily communication.

Final Words

Finally, I would like to sincerely remind everyone: I hope you will never need a lawyer in your life, but if possible, make a trustworthy lawyer friend first, just in case you need him. Don't wait until something happens, only to find that you are unprepared and no one can help you.

In daily life, you can also spend some time to understand basic legal knowledge, so that when faced with sudden criminal risks, you will not panic or be misled, and have sufficient judgment and psychological preparation, so that you can better protect yourself and your family.

This article is an original article by lawyer Shao Shiwei. It only represents the author's personal views and does not constitute legal consultation or legal opinion on specific matters. For article reprint, legal consultation, and peer communication, please add: sswls66.