Courtroom Proceedings
According to a report by Zhang Lei of our newspaper, Guo, a 53-year-old female principal at the third children's amateur sports school in Xuri District, was publicly tried in the Chaoyang Court this morning on charges of embezzlement. The prosecution accused her of misappropriating 400,000 yuan of public funds for personal use to purchase a house. Guo confessed that the school had a private slush fund from which the misappropriated 400,000 yuan came, originally allocated by the district finance department to the sports school.
Guo stated that she started working at the Chaoyang Third Children's Amateur Sports School in 1999 and became its principal in 2002, responsible for all aspects of the school's operations, including purchasing equipment. In 2006, the school had planned to buy sports equipment and had already paid the deposit, but due to mismatched equipment models, the purchase was canceled.
She explained that the money allocated for the equipment was provided by the district finance department. If it wasn't spent within the year, it could be reclaimed by the finance department. "I wanted to keep the money within the school. Considering the possibility of it being reclaimed, I didn't let them return the money to the official school account but instead returned it to the school's slush fund for future use." According to Guo, the school's slush fund was set up under the personal account of the cashier.
According to the prosecution, in September 2006, during her tenure as principal, Guo used 400,000 yuan of unit funds for personal housing purchases.
The prosecution argued that as a state employee, Guo took advantage of her position to misappropriate public funds for personal use, an act that should be prosecuted under the crime of embezzlement.
"In the past 20 years, I have been raising my child alone, living off my single salary, making the financial situation relatively tight. My father and child have lived in a house built in the seventies for many years. In 2006, because I was buying a house, I borrowed 400,000 yuan from the school's slush fund. I originally intended to repay this money, but due to my over-80-year-old father suddenly falling ill with geriatric diseases, I delayed repayment," Guo stated in court.
It is reported that after the incident occurred, Guo's family has repaid the 400,000 yuan she misappropriated. Before the trial concluded, Guo once again requested the court's consideration, citing the need to care for her sick elderly father. The court did not immediately announce the verdict this morning.
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