"Having money to buy luxury cars but deliberately dodging debt repayment!" Zhou Hui pointed at Ren's luxury off-road vehicle and said.
The chairman buys luxury cars and adds mansions but refuses to pay debts, and the court has issued a final notice to him.
Changsha foreman's account: Won the lawsuit but encountered an 'old赖' (a common term for people who refuse to pay their debts).
By reporter Chu Jian, with text and images.
"How can there be such scoundrels in this world, having money to buy luxury cars and purchase mansions, yet deliberately dodging debt repayment!" On November 25th, Zhou Hui pointed at a luxurious SUV parked nearby and muttered under his breath.
Zhou Hui is the project manager of Hunan Changgong Engineering Construction Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Hunan Changgong"), while the owner of the Cadillac is Ren Zuomin, the legal representative and chairman of Hunan Taihe Stone Industry Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Taihe Stone").
Five years ago, Hunan Changgong signed a stone quarry blasting contract with Taihe Stone. However, the contract that was originally due to expire on December 31, 2008, was unreasonably terminated by Taihe Stone on February 16, 2007. As a result, the two companies became embroiled in a contractual dispute.
In 2007 and 2009, the Tianxin District People's Court of Changsha made successive judgments on this contractual dispute, ordering Taihe Stone to compensate Hunan Changgong 667,345.4 yuan.
"At most, I went to Ren Zuomin's house six times in one month," after the second trial, Zhou Hui became a frequent "visitor" to Ren Zuomin's home. "Over the course of more than two years, despite acquiring new luxury cars and mansions, Ren completely ignored the court-recognized compensation."
Details of the dispute:
On March 29, 2006, Zhou Hui, representing Hunan Changgong, signed a stone quarry blasting contract with Taihe Stone. The contract stipulated that Taihe Stone's Huangbai stone quarry blasting project would be contracted to Hunan Changgong for construction. The contract duration was from April 10, 2006, to December 31, 2008, with an engineering volume of 1 million cubic meters.
Zhou Hui stated that since Taihe Stone was unfamiliar with the local public security bureau, Hunan Changgong assisted Taihe Stone in handling the hazardous explosives procedures and prepaid the costs amounting to 44,170 yuan.
After signing the contract, Hunan Changgong subcontracted related businesses to four local foremen, including Xu Jingying in Miluo.
When Hunan Changgong had invested substantial manpower, resources, and finances and production was running smoothly, Taihe Stone suddenly sent a letter on February 16, 2007, notifying Hunan Changgong of the termination of both parties' contract.
Due to the termination of the contract, Hunan Changgong also had to terminate its subcontracting contracts with Xu Jingying and three others. Subsequently, Xu Mingliang and three others sued the local court, which forcibly withdrew 470,000 yuan from Hunan Changgong on January 23, 2008.
Two victories in court,
but the debt collection journey remains difficult
After the contract dispute arose, Hunan Changgong and Taihe Stone underwent two trials at the Tianxin District Court.
In 2007, the Tianxin District People's Court of Changsha ruled that Taihe Stone should pay Hunan Changgong an engineering fee of 45,761.80 yuan; physical goods payment of 21,149.60 yuan; agency fee for hazardous materials of 44,170 yuan; equipment fee of 75,264 yuan; hazardous materials storage facility construction fee of 11,000 yuan; and economic loss of 470,000 yuan. The total amount was 667,345.40 yuan, which Taihe Stone was required to fulfill within seven days of the judgment taking effect.
After the first trial, Taihe Stone appealed against the verdict. In September 2009, the Tianxin District People's Court upheld the original verdict during the retrial, ordering Taihe Stone to pay Hunan Changgong a total of 667,345.40 yuan, to be fulfilled within seven days of the judgment taking effect.
At this point, Project Manager Zhou Hui, who had been dealing with this matter for several years, thought that the contract dispute could finally be resolved. Unexpectedly, Taihe Stone refused to execute the court's decision, citing insufficient funds in the company's account.
With no other options, Zhou Hui embarked on a tough debt collection journey.
Court: A final notice has been issued
Non-compliance will result in being listed as an 'old赖'
Failing to recover the debt, Zhou Hui had no choice but to seek help from the court again. On November 7, 2009, Hunan Changgong applied to the Tianxin District People's Court for compulsory execution against Hunan Taihe Stone. On January 6, 2010, the Tianxin District People's Court accepted this contract dispute enforcement case.
To Zhou Hui's surprise, even after the court accepted the forced execution, the funds were still not recovered.
"Ren Zuomin, the legal representative of Hunan Taihe Stone Industry Co., Ltd., always avoids me. Occasionally when we meet, he always claims that his company has no money left, and the business has ceased operations." What infuriates Zhou Hui is that during the years of litigation with Hunan Changgong, Taihe Stone had already transferred the assets in the company account. Meanwhile, Ren Zuomin himself purchased a nearly million-yuan off-road vehicle, bought a luxury residence, and frequently visited high-end consumption venues like golf courses.
On November 28, 2011, the reporter contacted the staff member surnamed Zhou from the Enforcement Bureau of the Tianxin District People's Court who handled this case. Zhou introduced that after accepting the enforcement case, it was indeed found that there were no funds in the company account to execute the judgment, and the company was a limited liability company.
"We have issued a final notice to the company's legal representative. If they still do not comply with the judgment, according to Hunan Changgong's request, Hunan Taihe Stone Industry Co., Ltd. will be listed as an 'old赖'. At that time, the company name and the legal representative's name will be announced to all mobile phone users in the city and the media," the enforcement bureau staff member explained.
On November 28, the reporter called Ren Zuomin, the legal representative of Hunan Taihe Stone Industry Co., Ltd. During the call, Ren admitted that his company did indeed have a contractual dispute with Hunan Changgong. When the reporter pursued further questions about Zhou Hui's doubts, Ren suggested understanding the situation from the court and then hung up hurriedly.
Expert: Increase the illegal cost for malicious debt evaders
Ou Aimin, professor at the Law School of Xiangtan University, believed that Hunan Taihe Stone Industry Co., Ltd.'s actions fall under the category of "malicious debt evasion", which not only infringes on people's property rights but also severely disrupts normal economic order.
Ou Aimin stated that since "malicious debt evaders" often do not receive appropriate punishment, the phenomenon is becoming increasingly serious. Therefore, multiple measures should be taken to increase the cost of violations, making those who intentionally default think twice.
For this reason, Ou Aimin proposed three penalty assumptions for dealing with "malicious debt evaders" besides listing them on the old赖 list: First, they can be included in the bad record archives of financial institutions; Second, for "old赖" who refuse to repay debts despite having the ability to do so after the judgment takes effect, courts should impose judicial detention penalties; Third, legislation can establish the crime of "malicious debt evasion" to hold severely "malicious debt evaders" criminally responsible.
"Only by increasing their illegal costs can we curb the increasing number of malicious debt evasion behaviors in reality," Ou Aimin said.