Worth 6 million! #3人抢劫朋友之妻1287个虚拟币 Maximum sentence of 10 years

Chengdu Business Daily-Red Star News, is virtual property considered personal property? Is it protected by law? Recently, a virtual property robbery case in Leshan, Sichuan was sentenced, answering this question. Robbery of virtual property is also sentenced to robbery, which also makes the protection of virtual property move from virtual to reality. According to reports, three men robbed a friend's wife of Bitcoin and Ethereum, with a total value of nearly 6 million yuan, and were sentenced to 7 and a half to 10 years.

↑ Court trial scene

Case

Pretending to be a fresh food delivery person to trick into the parking lot

Robbed a friend's wife of virtual currency worth 6 million yuan

Liang is a post-90s, from Jingyan County, Leshan City, with a college degree. Last October, Liang was in debt and had the idea of ​​robbing his friend's wife Luo Moumou of Bitcoin. Afterwards, Liang invited Yuan, who in turn invited Wang at Liang's request. The three conspired to rob Luo's Bitcoin, and Liang prepared off-road vehicles and other tools for the crime.

On the evening of October 31 last year, Liang drove an unlicensed off-road vehicle, carrying Yuan and Wang to the parking lot opposite Xiaoba Yushu in Shizhong District, Leshan City, where Luo lived. According to Liang's arrangement, Wang called and pretended to be a delivery person for fresh food, tricked Luo into the parking lot, and with the help of Yuan, forcibly dragged Luo onto the off-road vehicle.

Afterwards, Liang drove the off-road vehicle along Lesha Ecological Avenue towards Shawan, and took Luo to an open space in Jinba Village, Shuikou Town, Shizhong District, Leshan City. In the car, Wang and Yuan used violence and threats to force Luo to log in to the "Huobi Exchange" APP account on his mobile phone.

Then, Liang took Luo's mobile phone and got off the car to transfer 29.0004844 bitcoins and 1258.04064 ethers from Luo's account to his own account. Finally, the three let Luo go, and Wang gave Luo 50 yuan for the fare.

The day after the incident, Liang and Yuan took a car driven by Liang's friend to Nanchong City to sell bitcoins, but failed. On the way back to Leshan, Liang and Yuan discussed and reported to the police.

As of the incident, Liang had not informed Wang and Yuan that he had robbed Luo's 1258.04064 Ethereum coins. According to the Leshan Price Certification Center, the Bitcoins stolen from Luo were worth more than RMB 2.64 million, and the Ethereum coins were worth more than RMB 3.34 million; the Huawei mobile phone stolen from Luo was worth RMB 2,770.

In the early morning of November 2 last year, the police from the Shizhong District Branch of the Leshan Public Security Bureau arrested Liang at a commercial concrete company in Emeishan City where Liang informed them; on the same day, they arrested Yuan who came to surrender in a community in Shizhong District, Leshan City. After Liang and Yuan were arrested, they truthfully confessed the above criminal facts. Liang returned 28,997 Bitcoins and 1,258.03 Ethereum coins to Luo. On December 2, Wang was arrested.

Verdict

Robbery of others’ property for the purpose of illegal possession

Three people were sentenced for robbery

During the court trial, the families of Liang and Yuan voluntarily returned RMB 3,400 to the court’s case account on behalf of the two defendants, namely the victim’s mobile phone (valued at RMB 2,770) and the handling fees used by Liang for two currency transfers, 0.0034844 bitcoins (valued at RMB 317.779) and 0.01064 ethers (RMB 282.764).

In this regard, Liang, Wang and Yuan had no objection to the facts, charges and evidence alleged by the public prosecution agency, and pleaded guilty in court. However, Liang’s defense lawyer believed that in current practical cases, there is controversy over whether the bitcoins and ethers involved in the case are property protected by the criminal law, and therefore should be punished for the crime of destroying computer information systems.

Yuan’s defense lawyer also proposed that the bitcoins and ethers in this case, as virtual currencies, are not real currencies and do not have monetary attributes. Although my country does not explicitly prohibit private investment in virtual currencies such as Bitcoin, it is not recognized and supported at the financial institution and government level. It is hoped that Yuan's punishment will be reduced according to law.

The court held that Liang, Wang, and Yuan used violence and coercion to rob others of their property for the purpose of illegal possession, and the amount was huge, and their actions constituted robbery. Among them: Liang should bear criminal responsibility for the 29.0004844 Bitcoins and 1258.04064 Ethereum coins robbed; Wang and Yuan should bear criminal responsibility for the 29.0004844 Bitcoins robbed.

Combined with the facts of the case, based on the defendant's surrender, confession, confession, repentance, refund, and the role played in the crime, the People's Court of Shizhong District, Leshan City, made a first-instance judgment: Liang was convicted of robbery and sentenced to 10 years in prison and a fine of RMB 20,000;Wang was convicted of robbery and sentenced to eight years and six months in prison and a fine of RMB 10,000; Yuan was convicted of robbery and sentenced to seven years and six months in prison and a fine of RMB 10,000.