A month later, Si Mingda and Wang Mudan received a notice from the court that they would make a judgment on Gao Huai's first trial and asked them to go to the scene to listen.
On the day of the verdict, Si Mingda and Wang Mudan, as well as several friends and classmates, rushed to the courtroom of Nanzhong City Court. Xiaomei, Li Xiaoliang and others also arrived one after another.
The court had already thoroughly investigated all the issues related to the case during the previous hearing. This time, only the criminal penalty notice for Gao Huai was announced. After a brief, procedural interrogation, the presiding judge began to read out the verdict against Gao Huai: "The defendant, Gao Huai, is suspected of using a letter of credit to defraud Mingdan Company of 5.02 million yuan in payment for goods. The court has now ascertained that the facts of the crime are clear and the evidence is sufficient. The defendant has also elaborated on the details of the crime. Due to the huge amount of money defrauded and the serious circumstances of the crime, it has caused great losses to the victim company and has also caused a bad impact on society.
After communication between our court and relevant units in Country G, the defendant's stolen money has been returned. Since the defendant has truthfully confessed to the crime and returned the stolen money, after a rigorous review by the collegial panel, I now announce the following verdict on Gao Huai:
The suspect Gao Huai was convicted of fraud and sentenced to 15 years in prison. He was ordered to recover 10.3 million yuan in defrauded funds, including 5.02 million yuan in payment for goods to Mingdan Company, 650,000 yuan in interest, 320,000 yuan in late payment fees, and 100,000 yuan in mental damages. Based on the above, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison and ordered to pay 6.09 million yuan in compensation to Mingdan Company.
If the plaintiff or defendant disagrees with the ruling, they can submit evidence and appeal to a higher court within one month.
According to the compensation figure read out by the presiding judge, Gao Huai still has more than 4 million left from this transaction. This means that when he is released from prison after serving fifteen years, he will still have several million yuan left, and he can still live a carefree life.
Thinking of the losses suffered by his company, the helplessness of borrowing money, and the hardship of repaying debts, Si Mingda felt more and more unbalanced. He absolutely could not accept this verdict.
As soon as the presiding judge finished speaking, Si Mingda couldn't wait to stand up and protest: "Your Honor, I do not accept this verdict. It is so unfair to us. The compensation amount is far from enough to cover our company's losses. I will appeal."
The presiding judge replied businesslike, "We made this decision based on the amount involved, Gao Huai's ability to compensate, and his willingness to plead guilty. If you are dissatisfied with the verdict, you can gather new evidence and appeal to a higher court within one month."
"When can the money be returned to us?" Wang Mudan asked. In the past two years, Mingdan Company's working capital has been very tight. She often borrowed money and had to pay back another sum of money. This life of robbing Peter to pay Paul was too much for her. She just wanted to recover the money as soon as possible so that Mingdan Company's operations could get back on track as soon as possible.
"If you accept the court's decision, we can return it to you within one month of the decision. Otherwise, if you want to appeal, we will have to wait until the second-instance judgment takes effect, and then we will return the compensation according to the second-instance judgment."
Although Simingda really wanted to get the money, it was not enough to cover his direct losses, let alone mental damages. The more he thought about it, the more dissatisfied he became. He said indignantly, "No, I must appeal. Gao Huai's sentence is too light. Our direct losses are more than this amount of money. How should our indirect losses be calculated?"
The presiding judge patiently explained, "The amount we calculated is based on the letter of credit contract. The other indirect losses are not directly related to this case. If you wish to pursue liability, you can file a separate lawsuit."
Si Mingda had no choice but to agree: "Okay, I will collect evidence and continue to appeal."
The presiding judge turned to Gao Huai and asked, "Does the defendant wish to appeal?"
Gao Huai had previously thought that he would be sentenced to at least life imprisonment, but he did not expect that he would be sentenced to only fifteen years. He was quite satisfied with this sentence. If he behaved well in prison and tried to get his sentence reduced, he would be able to reunite with his family in a few years. More importantly, there was still a surplus of four million in the compensation, which could be used for the living expenses of his children. This sentence was what he had been hoping for.
He quickly said, "I accept the verdict and will not appeal."
Xiaomei was relieved to hear the result. She had been worried that he would be sentenced to life imprisonment or death penalty. After more than a year of mental torture, she has accepted the fact that Gao Huai is going to jail. Because his motive for committing the crime is relatively bad and the amount involved is relatively large, in comparison, a sentence of fifteen years is relatively light.
She walked up to Gao Huai and said, "You must reform yourself in there and try to get out and reunite with us as soon as possible. The child and I will always be your family. I will come to visit you when I have time."
Gao Huai looked at Xiaomei lovingly and advised: "You will have to work hard to take care of the child by yourself in the future. If you have any difficulties, ask your parents and Xiaoliang for help. I will behave well and try to come out and reunite with you as soon as possible."
"Okay, we'll wait for you to come out."
Xiaomei's care brought great comfort to Gao Huai's lonely heart. Xiaomei and the child were his spiritual support. He was sure that as long as he behaved well, he would be able to be released from prison in less than fifteen years. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but reveal a relaxed smile on his face.
Looking at Gao Huai and Xiao Mei on the stand, expressing their feelings to each other, it was clear that he was relieved and even a little proud of the verdict. Simingda couldn't help but burst into anger again. He pointed at Gao Huai and cursed fiercely: "Gao Huai, I warn you not to be proud too soon. I will appeal and I will not give up until you are sentenced to death. You will die in prison for the rest of your life."
The presiding judge was very dissatisfied with Si Mingda's extreme stance. He quickly stopped him and said, "Plaintiff, everything is subject to the court's decision. If you are dissatisfied with the judgment, you can appeal according to the procedures. Do not make extreme statements in court."
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