At super-low prices, attract consumers to buy mobile phones below the line
After the customer pays for the cell phone
The shopkeeper updated the system with his cell phone
Additional high costs, etc
To force consumers to purchase more than their market prices
Old used phone or fake apple bluetooth headset
I'm sorry
Online claims that the latest apple phone can be purchased at a special price, and sub-line payments are made when they are told that there is an additional high-cost upgrade of the system and that the offer of a refund is being blocked in a way that prevents them from doing so. Ultimately, consumers were forced to purchase second-hand apple phones or counterfeit apple headsets above market prices。
Following an indictment filed by the public prosecutor's office of the long bay district of wenzhou, zhejiang province, the court recently sentenced the accused, mr. Liu, to prison terms ranging from six years and nine months to four months, and a fine ranging from $260,000 to $45,000 each, for the offences of forced trading, sale of counterfeit registered goods and false advertising. The judgement is now in force。
I'm trying to get a cheap result
Ms. Chung has been trying to buy a new apple phone, which has been delayed due to high prices. One day in november 2023, she saw an online ad for the sale of the latest apple cell phone, which was very moving and, after consulting with ms. Honey wei, decided to go to this digital store, which is located in yong bay, winzhou。
On the following day, both men were satisfied with their trial at the shop, and the contract for the purchase of the aircraft was signed and a payment of $599 was made. After the payment, the shopkeeper told them that the mobile phone was priced off because the system had to be updated twice to three times, with each upgrade paying an additional cost of about $1,000 to the door shop, otherwise the mobile phone could become an unserviceable “cricket”。
Having heard that, ms. Chung was foolish enough to say that she did not want to buy a mobile phone and asked for a refund. Instead, the clerk stated that the contract had been concluded and that a deduction of 20 per cent of the liquidated money was required for refunds。
It was only then that ms. Chung noted that the mobile store was different from the ordinary mobile phone store, which was empty and showed only a few new apples on the cabinet。
After a period of stalemate, the shopkeeper proposed that old used apple phones could be purchased at the expense paid or that 20 per cent of the default money could be replaced by an “elemental bluetooth headphone”。
In the event, ms. Chung and ms. Chung eventually purchased an “apple bluetooth headset” at a price of $699 to receive a refund of $5,300. After that, they filed a complaint through platform 12315 and on 15 november 2023 they reported the police to the public security authorities. The public security organs, when they come to the police, deal with consumer disputes. Subsequently, the public security authorities received a number of consumer alerts and detected irregularities, which were investigated by the joint market supervision authority in january 2024。
On 29 february 2024, a case was opened by the public security organs, which found that similar situations had occurred in various parts of the country. In april 2024, mr. Liu was arrested and arrested。
Fake ads, forced dealings
In june 2021, liu chiu, fan yi and chai yi, in partnership, opened the first off-line mobile phone shop, with a clear division of labour, liu chia being responsible for the acquisition and management of goods, fan yi being responsible for the flow of short video and one for the sale of firewood。
In an effort to attract customers, fan has published false advertisements on various short-video platforms to buy the latest apple phone at extremely low prices, attracting consumers to sub-line phone shops。
When consumers pay for their mobile phones, they induce them to request refunds on the grounds that they have to pay extra fees for the mobile phone upgrade system; then, by creating stringent conditions, such as a 20 per cent discount on default money, a non-local location for the return, etc., they do not refund the mobile phone and force consumers to purchase alternative used mobile phones or fake apple bluetooth headphones that are clearly above market prices。
According to liu, a fake apple headphone with only $30 in advance was eventually sold at a price ranging from $399 to $699, and the sale of used mobile phones was more than $1,000. As a result, the criminal group headed by liu xiao has made illegal profits of over $9 million, involving more than 15,000 consumers。
As a result of frequent consumer complaints, and in order to reduce after-sale and avoid detection, liu, among others, frequently changed the address of the lower-line shop. Two other members of the criminal group, pan and chai, were responsible for the day-to-day management of the financial and off-line mobile phone shops, respectively。
Inspection oversight closes the gap
In view of the complexity of the case, following the opening of the case by the public security organs, the public prosecutor's office of the long bay district of wenzhou was invited to intervene in accordance with the law and to hold joint meetings with the public security organs to advise them on the characterization, direction and validity of the case。
On 20 september 2024, the public security organs referred five individuals, including liu xiao, to the prosecution service for prosecution on suspicion of forced trading, selling goods under false trademarks and false advertising. In response to problems such as lack of evidence, the public prosecution service issued a supplementary investigation outline and the public security organs supplemented the evidentiary material by expanding the number of victims of the crime of forced trading from 50 to 67。
At the same time, by extracting, comparing and interrogating electronic data from mobile phones, questioning and breaking critical statements, the public prosecution service oversaw the filing of two cases and the withdrawal of two cases, with 17 additional convictions of criminal facts。
In addition, the prosecutor's office of the long bay district has been able to clarify precisely the time, number, amount and role of the suspects involved in the forced transaction, identify the principal accomplices and treat the group's principals, key members and general members separately, in accordance with the principle of proportionality of criminal liability。
The court considered that liu chia, fan chi, chai chi, pan chi and chai chi, who had been in many groups for the purpose of forcibly buying and selling goods under duress, had committed a particularly serious offence against liu chia, fan chi, chai chi a and pan, and that their actions constituted a crime of forced trading. Five of liu's people, knowing that they are counterfeit registered trademarks, are still selling goods, of which liu, fan, chai and pan have other particularly serious circumstances, and one of which has other aggravating circumstances, which constitute the offence of selling counterfeit registered trademarks. In violation of national regulations, liu, fan chii and sakai used advertising to falsely advertise goods, in serious circumstances, and their actions constituted a false advertising offence。
On 9 january 2025, the prosecutor's office of the long bay district filed an indictment against five persons, including liu xian, for the offences of forced trading, sale of counterfeit registered trademarks, and false advertising. After the first instance judgement, liu yai appealed. Recently, the court of second instance heard and rendered the aforementioned judgement。
In response to irregularities in the distribution patterns of electronic products found in the case, the need to strengthen the detection of fraud and abuse, and the lack of oversight by the competent authorities, the prosecutor's office of the long bay region issued recommendations to the competent authorities for the inspection of social governance, with a view to strengthening the monitoring of enforcement and protection of intellectual property rights. Following the receipt of the prosecutorial recommendations, the functional departments attach great importance to the development of long-term regulatory mechanisms。
