ENFORCEMENT
Receiving payments for a person subject to enforcement: what risks do relatives or friends face?
The legal consequences depend on ownership, control and the movement of funds, as well as the conduct of the people involved.
When a relative or friend receives WeChat payments for a person subject to enforcement, neither the name on the account nor the family relationship alone determines who owns the funds. A single instance of receiving a payment also does not by itself establish a crime. The payment’s basis, instructions, destination and actual control should be considered together.
First identify who owns the funds
The registered identity associated with an account may provide a lead. Specific information about income or other property interests that may belong to the person subject to enforcement can be submitted to the enforcement court for investigation in accordance with law. If money has entered a third party’s account, the rights in the money, basis for payment and destination must also be examined.
Distinguish enforcement measures from criminal liability
If the person subject to enforcement refuses to report property, makes a false report or fails to report on time without good reason, the court may take appropriate measures in accordance with law and the circumstances. Criminal liability depends on separate legal conditions.
Under Article 8 of the Supreme People’s Court and Supreme People’s Procuratorate interpretation on criminal cases involving refusal to enforce judgments and rulings, a non-party who knows that a person subject to enforcement is able but refuses to comply, conspires with that person and assists in concealing or transferring property or other acts of refusal, thereby rendering the judgment or ruling unenforceable, is treated as an accomplice to the offence. Whether these conditions are met depends on the evidence and circumstances.
What evidence can be collected?
Information lawfully gathered may include the source of the business, the basis for payment, payment instructions, transaction records and the destination of funds, together with their relationship to key stages of the proceedings and enforcement. These can be provided to a lawyer or court for lawful examination.
Sources
Judicial interpretation on criminal cases concerning refusal to enforce judgments and rulings · Rules on property investigation in civil enforcement, as amended in 2020 · Original Xiaohongshu post (all in Chinese).