Chapter 464 - 199: Meng Lei: I Want to Borrow Some More Money

「Ten minutes later.」

A series of evidence was presented to the collegial panel. At the same time, copies of this evidence were also handed over to Meng Lei by the court enforcement personnel. This stage was for presenting and challenging the evidence. As the defendant, Meng Lei had the right to question these pieces of evidence.

In the courtroom, the Judgment Chief, having reviewed the evidence, asked solemnly, "Defendant party, do you have any objection to this evidence?"

He referred to Meng Lei’s side as the "defendant party," not the "accused." Generally speaking, only in a criminal case of public prosecution can the defendant party be called the "accused." In civil cases, as well as private prosecution criminal cases, the defendant party should not be called the "accused." The term "accused" corresponds to the public prosecutor and refers to a confirmed suspect in a criminal offense.

"I... I don’t remember borrowing that much money! This could be them slandering me..." Meng Lei looked at the evidence, visibly anxious.

He forced an argument, "These transfer records are from so many years ago. I remember there’s a statute of limitations for borrowing money, something like three years. Logically, it should have expired by now..."

Ever since the first time he borrowed money and didn’t return it during his high school days, he had gotten a taste for it and had grown accustomed to taking advantage of others. He had also found many successful cases online of chronic debtors avoiding repayment and had studied them carefully.

He remembered very clearly,

he thought.

There seemed to be some sort of statute of limitations on borrowing money. After three years, it should have expired. Many of these bills... they should all be outside the statute of limitations and therefore invalid.

However, the Judgment Chief furrowed his brow and stated sternly, "What you are referring to is the statute of limitations for loan disputes. This case, however, involves the crime of fraud, for which the statutory period of prosecution is ten years."

This case was not an ordinary criminal offense initiated by public prosecution authorities. In fact, after receiving the lawsuit initiated by Ma Ming, the case registration center and several judges held a meeting to discuss it. Normally, such incidents should be initiated by the public prosecution authorities, not by individuals. Therefore, the court transferred Ma Ming’s complaint, along with the details of the incident and the evidence, to the Yangcheng Procuratorate.

The result was that the Yangcheng Procuratorate replied, deeming the behavior a loan dispute, inappropriate to classify as fraud, and decided not to prosecute.

According to the Criminal Procedure Law: if a victim has evidence proving that the defendant has infringed upon their personal or property rights and should be held criminally responsible, and if the public security organ or the public prosecution authority fails to pursue the defendant’s criminal responsibility, the court *must* directly file the case. The term "must" here is indeed mandatory.

The evidence and charges submitted by Ma Ming did prove that his personal and property rights had been violated. Meng Lei’s actions were suspected of fraud. After carefully weighing the options, they decided to accept this private criminal prosecution. They would first review it and then, depending on the circumstances, make the corresponding judgment.

However...

the Judgment Chief (or perhaps it was the narrator observing) thought.

This Meng Lei is treating the court trial far too lightly. He didn’t even hire a professional lawyer, just randomly got a legal aid lawyer. And the skill level of this legal aid lawyer... it’s hard to put into words. He didn’t even clarify the relationship between the lending and fraudulent behavior. He even got the statute of limitations wrong.

「Jin City.」

「Nursing home.」

Wan Zhongyuan turned his head and looked at Qin Mu. He couldn’t help but ask, "Isn’t the statute of limitations for borrowing money three years? How did it suddenly become ten years?"

Watching the live broadcast of the court session, his face was full of confusion. Many people knew that the statute of limitations for borrowing money was three years.

What he didn’t understand was... how it had suddenly become ten years.

"AHEM. The ten years refers to the statute of limitations for the crime of fraud, not for loan disputes," Qin Mu explained, seeing Wan Zhongyuan’s eagerness to learn. "This already falls under the criminal law’s statute of limitations."

In this case...

Qin Mu mused,

the borrowing behavior currently under discussion already constitutes suspected fraud. Criminal law has relevant regulations: if the maximum statutory penalty for an offense is less than ten years, the prosecution period is ten years. Meng Lei’s borrowing, although the acts themselves occurred more than three years ago, involved a total amount exceeding forty thousand yuan. The sentencing... would range from three to ten years of imprisonment. Therefore, his borrowing conduct is still within the prosecution period for suspected fraud. What the Judgment Chief said was entirely correct.

On Meng Lei’s side, however... he was just flailing about, offering no substantial rebuttals. Especially that defense lawyer, who seemed even more nervous than Meng Lei. Several times, it was Meng Lei himself who had to step forward to respond.

"This case... is full of oddities," Qin Mu couldn’t help but mutter.

From his performance in the courtroom, Meng Lei’s will to survive is strong. He’s clearly fighting for himself. But why... why didn’t he just hire a capable lawyer like Zhang Wei?

"What’s so odd about that? He just doesn’t want to spend the money," one of the old men interjected.

"Exactly! I’ve seen plenty of misers like him. When they borrow from others, they love to use emotional blackmail. But when others want to borrow from him, he wouldn’t part with a single cent!" another added.

"He didn’t even hire a lawyer in the last case. It’s already something that he has one this time."

"He probably still hasn’t realized the seriousness of the situation."

Zhang Qingyuan and the others also couldn’t help but chime in with their criticisms. They held Meng Lei’s character in utmost contempt. In their view, being poor was acceptable; that was, at worst, a matter of ability or luck. But not repaying borrowed money—that was a moral issue. They despised such a character from the bottom of their hearts.

Meanwhile, on the live broadcast of the court session...