Abstract:
There are three misunderstandings in the judging of “illegal possession purpose” in the crime of fund-raising fraud: one is the use of fraud methods to raise funds illegally; another is absconding with funds; still another is the objective result that the fundraising funds cannot be returned. Under this condition, the “illegal possession purpose” in the crime of fund-raising fraud needs to be liberally applied in combination with commercial thinking and commercial characteristics in the context of promoting the development of private enterprises. First, the situation of illegal fund-raising by means of fund-raising fraud needs to be considered with the special “character” of the fund-raising activities in the commercial field to determine whether it has the “purpose of illegal possession”, which cannot be generalized. Secondly, before, when, or after the time limit for obtaining fundraising funds, it is not an inevitable requirement to determine the existence of the “illegal possession purpose” of fund-raising fraud crime, but it must be determined on the bases of specific circumstances of the case. Thirdly, in case that the illegal fundraising funds cannot be returned, whether the actor has the purpose of “illegal possession” needs to be judged and differentiated in different situations. If there is an unforeseen objective reason that prevents the return, it cannot be deemed to have an “illegal possession purpose”; if it is clear to have an “illegal possession purpose” but cannot “exclude reasonable doubt”, one can choose to be lenient in accordance with the principle of moderation in criminal law and not to determine it as “illegal possession purpose”.