A bank manager working at a branch of state-owned Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) was recently sentenced to life in prison for setting up a scheme that enabled her to steal 250 million yuan (about $40 million) in deposits. The depositors are finding it almost impossible to get their money back as the court did not hold the bank accountable for this loss.
Some commenters said there seems to be little hope for the victims to claim compensation from the suspect, as she has been jailed for life and is out of reach. One possible solution is for the suspect to be convicted of embezzlement, then ICBC would be responsible for the theft of the customer’s money and the victims could recover their losses from the bank.
However, the Nanning Intermediate Court in Guangxi Province ruled that the ICBC won’t be held accountable because it was outside the scope of the court’s deliberations as to whether ICBC was the subject of the refund liability.
Liang Jianhong, general manager of the personal finance department of ICBC’s Nanning Branch, was found guilty of theft, fraud, and forgery of financial documents, sentenced to life imprisonment, and fined 3.2 million yuan ($500,000) according to a Nov. 19, 2021 judgement, as reported by state-run National Business Daily on March 20.
According to the Nanning Intermediate Court’s verdict, between 2018 and 2019, Liang persuaded customers to make large deposits to support loan companies by offering additional interest over the normal deposit interest rate.
When the customer entered the trap, Liang’s assistant, surnamed Shi, pretended to be a representative of the enterprise party in need of a loan and asked the depositor to use a password they provided. Subsequently, Liang asked for the customer’s original ID card for identity verification, while Liang and Shi forged deposit slips that replaced the customer’s real one. With the password, depositor ID, and deposit slip, Liang was able to act as the depositor’s agent and transfer the money to an account controlled by Liang and Shi.
Through this scheme, Liang and Shi stole a total of 253.36 million yuan (about $40 million) from 28 people.
Liang was reportedly detained in May 2019 for the crime of misappropriation of duties (embezzlement) . However, the charge was changed during the prosecution stage.
The court of first instance stated that Liang’s behavior did not meet the criminal characteristics of embezzlement, citing that Liang, as a bank executive, did not use her position to facilitate the direct withdrawal of the victim’s deposits from a bank account.
ICBC Should Be Responsible: Lawyer
A victim told the official media China Times on March 16 that the main reason they trusted Liang was because she was a bank executive and each time they did business they were treated like VIPs by the ICBC.Another victim said that early on Dec. 7, 2018, at the Nanning Dongge East Sub-branch of the ICBC, a depositor tried to use a fake deposit slip supplied by Liang and was reported to the police on the spot after the counter staff recognized the forgery. However, ICBC did not conduct an internal investigation after the incident. Thus, Liang was able to continue her crimes for six months, as confirmed by the court ruling, said China Times.
“The case reveals the vulnerability and security risk of the banking institution. The ICBC should also bear the corresponding civil compensation responsibility,” said Pei Hongbo, a lawyer from Beijing DHH Law Firm.
Shanghai Dabang Law Firm lawyer You Yunting also believes that the bank has an important responsibility in the case. The business was conducted in the bank, and the relevant suspect was an employee of ICBC, so the depositors’ trust in ICBC was a major reason why they were cheated.
On March 18, ICBC Nanning Branch responded to the public debate on Weibo, saying that Liang was judicially seen as committing a personal crime, not embezzlement.
ICBC did not mention whether it would be accountable in this case but asserted that the bank’s operation is in accordance with the law and regulations.
