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Baffled Labelling: Making Sense of the Intertwined Relationship between Fundraising Fraud and Illegally Taking in Deposits from the General Public in Chinese Criminal Law

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 May 2024

Yu Mou Open the ORCID record for Yu Mou [Opens in a new window]
Yu Mou*
Affiliation:
School of Law, SOAS, University of London, 10 Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, WC1H 0XG, London
*
Email: ym19@soas.ac.uk
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Abstract

Fundraising fraud is one of the most serious and complicated financial crimes in China. It has an intertwined relationship with a regulatory offence, known as illegally taking in deposits from the general public (ITIDFGP). In judicial practice, ITIDFGP works as the downgraded form of fundraising fraud. This article explores why fundraising fraud is identified as financial fraud whereas ITIDFGP is a regulatory offence. The paper discerns the essence of fraud in Chinese criminal law and critically examines the concept of “intention to possess illegally.” It argues that ITIDFGP should be classified as a form of fraud de jure, although, in reality, there are policy considerations behind its categorization as a regulatory offence. The paper also suggests that the role played by the socioeconomic policy in Chinese criminal-law legislation should be fully acknowledged.

Keywords

fundraising fraudillegally taking in deposits from the general publicfinancial fraudChinese criminal law
Type
Research Article
Information
Asian Journal of Law and Society , First View , pp. 1 - 17
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Asian Journal of Law and Society

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