According to the introduction, Liang is the general manager of a new materials Co., Ltd. in Zhongshan City, Guangdong Province. In chatting with others, he heard rumors that some individuals at Vanward Group Co., Ltd. were dissatisfied with the company, so he came up with the idea of extortion. Then, Liang fabricated on his own the existence of tax issues at Vanward Group and organized them into written materials. He then found Luo, a relative of the wife of Lu, the president of Vanward Group, and discussed using this information to extort Vanward Group, agreeing on a share of the proceeds.
On December 29, 2010, Liang met with Lu through Luo, showing him the fabricated materials and lying that his friend "Dege" in Beijing already had information detrimental to Vanward Group's listing, demanding that Vanward Group show "sincerity."
"Although there is no such thing as a 'tax issue,' but to avoid making things bigger and affecting the listing, I said I could offer 300,000 to 500,000 RMB at the time," Lu said. When he proposed to personally communicate with "Dege," Liang refused on the grounds that it was too late.
In the following two days, Liang and Luo met Lu again, who brought other senior executives of the company to meet with them in a hotel. During the meeting, Lu insisted that Vanward had no financial problems and hoped that the other party would not interfere with Vanward's listing. Lu questioned the price set by "Dege," to which Liang replied that it was 2 billion RMB. Lu immediately indicated that he could not accept it, and the negotiation failed.
Subsequently, Liang found Wang in Beijing, creating the false impression that "Dege" in Beijing had issued materials about Vanward Group's tax issues. On January 15, 2011, Liang once again met with Lu and other senior executives of Vanward Group. Lu and others stated that they were willing to resolve the matter with 3 million RMB, but the negotiation failed. Lu and other senior executives believed that the contents of the accusation letter provided by Liang were false, so they recorded their conversation and reported it to the police after leaving the hotel. On January 17, 2011, the police arrested Liang.
On November 3, 2011, the Shunde District People's Court of Foshan City sentenced Liang to four years in prison for attempted blackmail. Liang appealed, arguing two controversial points in the appeal: Liang claimed her original intention was cooperation; the "2 billion" was a joke, referring to sperm.
Liang claimed that her actions were not for illegal possession, but just to make Vanward Group grateful to her, thus enabling business cooperation with Vanward Group, and did not constitute a crime.
After reviewing the case, the Intermediate People's Court of Foshan City believed that the victim's report statement, witness testimony, and co-defendant confession all corroborated each other, proving that during the period when Vanward Group was preparing for its IPO, Liang met four times with the president and senior executives of the victim unit, lying that there were people in Beijing who would report Vanward Group, threatening the victim unit to achieve the purpose of extorting the victim unit. Liang's actions showed subjective intent to illegally possess, and objectively implemented the method of threats, forcibly extorting public and private property, so Liang's actions constituted the crime of extortion.
Liang also stated that the "2 billion" she mentioned was related to "sperm," a joke. Her defense lawyer pointed out that since there was no actual amount of crime in the case, Liang's criminal circumstances were minor, and according to law, she should be exempt from criminal punishment or placed under probation.
So, did the "2 billion" refer to RMB or "sperm"? Liang's confession and the testimonies of Luo, Lu, and others all mentioned it. In Liang's confession, she described the situation when she mentioned "2 billion": "Later, Lu kept asking how much money his friend in Beijing wanted, so I jokingly said the other side wanted 2 billion sperm, and Lu replied by saying no deal."
The Intermediate People's Court of Foshan City believed that the involved amount was supported by Liang's confession, the confession of co-defendant Luo, and numerous witness testimonies, sufficient to determine Liang's crime amount.
Accordingly, the Intermediate People's Court of Foshan City made the final ruling, rejecting Liang's appeal and upholding the original verdict.