Recently, the Haicang Court heard a case like this. The man, Zhou, thought he could make money by helping others to be "legal persons in name", but he paid a heavy price for it.

News on June 28 (Straits Herald reporter Chen Jie, Zeng Yixuan, correspondent Haifa) If someone paid to "borrow" your ID card and register you as the legal representative, would you accept it? Recently, the Haicang Court heard a case like this. The man, Zhou, thought he could make money by helping others to be "legal persons in name", but he paid a heavy price for it.

Zhou is a staff member of Company A. Under the arrangement of the company, he has served as the legal representative of Company A since July 2020 and receives a certain amount of legal person subsidies every month. In November 2020, Company A was sued to court for owing Company B the contract payment.

Haicang Court ruled after trial that Company A should pay Company B a payment of 22 million yuan and interest, etc. After the judgment was upheld in the second instance, Company B applied to the Haicang Court for execution in January 2022, because Company A failed to fulfill the obligations determined by the effective judgment. Due to the repayment obligation, the Haicang Court in January 2022 included Zhou, the legal representative of Company A, on the list of restricted high spenders.

In May 2022, Zhou applied to Haicang Court to revoke his consumption restriction order, saying that he was only a staff member of the company, did not hold any position in Company A, did not actually participate in the company's operation and management, and had no decision-making on company matters. He has resigned from Company A, and the legal representative of Company A has also changed; he does not bear any responsibility for the occurrence and performance of debts, and cannot have any influence. The consumption restriction order has seriously affected his normal production and life, so he requested the court to revoke it in accordance with the law. This application is under further review by the Haicang Court.

"nominal" legal person, be careful of three major risks!

The judge reminded that small profits may lead to big losses. Do not believe in promises or agreements that “the legal representative does not need to bear risks”, as such agreements are invalid! If the company is involved in litigation disputes, illegal or other criminal acts, the company's legal representative cannot absolve himself of the blame.

First, the “nominal” legal representative will face the risk of judicial punishment. According to relevant regulations, "The person subject to execution fails to perform the obligations specified in the legal document in accordance with the execution notice and shall report the current property situation and the property situation one year before the date of receipt of the execution notice. If the person subject to execution refuses to report or makes a false report, the People's Court may The person subject to execution or his legal agent, the principal person in charge of the relevant unit or the person directly responsible shall be fined or detained according to the seriousness of the case."

Second, there is the risk of administrative liability. If a company makes false records or conceals important facts in the financial accounting reports and other materials provided to the relevant competent authorities in accordance with the law, the relevant competent authorities shall impose a fine of not less than 30,000 yuan but not more than 300,000 yuan on the directly responsible person in charge and other directly responsible personnel. fine.

Third, criminal liability. Article 31 of the "Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China (2020 Amendment)" stipulates: "If a unit commits a crime, the unit shall be fined, and the person directly responsible for it and other directly responsible personnel shall be sentenced to criminal penalties." According to the law, if a unit commits a crime The person in charge who is directly responsible is the person who plays the role of deciding, approving, instructing, conniving, directing, etc. in the crimes committed by the unit. Generally, he is the person in charge of the unit, including the legal representative.