How Could the Bank Prove the Money Was Its Own?

Chapter 10: How Could the Bank Prove the Money Was Its Own?

Li Mo raised his hand, seeking permission from the presiding judge.

Yu Caixia looked toward the defendant's side, where Li Mo sat.

"Counsel for the defendant, if you have any questions, you may raise them in court."

Li Mo took a deep breath and pulled out the first-instance judgment. "Your Honor, I request that the plaintiff's counsel's statement be rejected."

"On what grounds?"

Li Mo handed the first-instance judgment to a nearby court staff member. Once he saw that Yu Caixia had received it, he spoke solemnly.

"Just now, counsel for the plaintiff, Su Bai of White Jun Law Firm, challenged the judgment of Nandu Basic Court and presented his reasons. However, counsel Su Bai glossed over the crucial issues. He addressed only the first two points of the judgment and deliberately ignored the remaining points."

"The third point of the judgment states that Nandu Basic Court found that Wang Li chose to use the money to pay hospital fees despite knowing that it belonged to the bank."

"Wang Li made it very clear in his statement just now that after leaving the bank, he was already out of danger, yet still chose to take the money to pay the hospital fees. On that basis, we can conclude that this was a decision Wang Li made of his own volition."

"It was not, as plaintiff's counsel Su Bai described, an act of necessity by Wang Li. I would like to ask the plaintiff's counsel: when your client clearly knew that the money belonged to the bank, why did he choose to go to the hospital rather than call the police and hand over the bank's money?"

"Alternatively, he could have waited until he reached a safe place, then returned the money.

"Yet Wang Li specifically chose to use the money to pay hospital fees.

"This demonstrates the point!

"First, he knew that the money had been stolen from the bank. Second, even if the robber had threatened him, Wang Li was already out of danger by the time he left the bank. The conditions for a defense of necessity no longer existed.

"Taken together, doesn't this establish that his subjective intent was effectively to rob the bank to save his father?"

"Of course, I know this is human nature. I do not deny Wang Li's concern and love for his father.

"But from the standpoint of the facts and the law, there was nothing wrong with the judgment against Wang Li."

"Your Honor, that concludes my statement."

After finishing, Li Mo glanced toward Su Bai. He had added that last part on the spur of the moment.

He also knew that this case had generated enormous public attention, so he had to consider public opinion while working to win the lawsuit.

Otherwise, even if they won when the case ended, Nandu Bank's reputation would still suffer tremendous damage.

Yu Caixia nodded slightly.

"Does the plaintiff have any objections or differing views regarding the defendant's counterclaim?"

Li Mo gave Su Bai a provocative look.

The corners of Su Bai's mouth lifted slightly. This was precisely the moment he had been waiting for!

The time to bring down Nandu Bank had arrived!

"Your Honor, I have no objection to the points raised by the defendant. Counsel for the defendant is correct within the framework of his argument. However, there is one thing he has overlooked."

"I would like to ask counsel for the defendant: how did you determine that the money in Wang Li's possession belonged to the bank? Is there any evidence showing that it was the bank's money?"

"Counsel for the defendant also stated that my client, Wang Li, used the bank's money to pay the relevant hospital fees, and used that to establish my client's subjective intent. But how can you prove that this money belonged to the bank?"

Su Bai's counterquestion left Li Mo utterly bewildered. What did he mean?

What did he mean, how could they prove that the bank's money belonged to the bank?!

Wasn't that a fucking ridiculous question?

Li Mo was not the only one stunned. Many of those attending the hearing could not understand it either. You could actually do that...?

Fucking incredible!

He could even come up with a question that tricky!

The viewers watching the hearing's livestream were also stunned for several seconds.

"Hahaha, what's this supposed to mean? Making the bank prove that its money belongs to it? Holy shit! This lawyer really knows his stuff! What a badass!"

"This lawsuit has gone in a direction I can't even comprehend. I feel like my brain's broken. Isn't this case about Wang Li? Shouldn't the main goal be getting his sentence reduced? The bank was supposed to be on the attack, so why is Wang Li's lawyer being so aggressive now?"

"No idea, but this lawsuit is so interesting! Isn't this more hype than Boruto?"

"This is pretty satisfying to watch. I don't really understand it, though. I'll wait to hear Teacher Luo explain it afterward!"

In the courtroom.

Su Bai's tricky question had left Li Mo speechless. For a moment, he could not work out what Su Bai was thinking.

As a question, there was indeed nothing wrong with what Su Bai had asked.

But as a matter of fact, if money stolen from a bank did not belong to the bank, had it fallen out of the sky?

Meanwhile, Li Xuezhen looked at Su Bai thoughtfully, as though she had realized something.

Bang, bang, bang!

Yu Caixia struck her gavel and looked calmly at Su Bai. "Does counsel for the plaintiff have any evidence or legal grounds to substantiate that claim?"

"Yes, Your Honor."

Su Bai pulled out a document from the first-instance case file.

"Your Honor, this is evidence provided by the prosecution during the first-instance trial."

"According to the evidence submitted by the prosecution, the bank was in chaos at the time. The robbers stole not only money belonging to the bank, but also money from customers who were making withdrawals. They mixed it all together in a burlap sack. The surveillance footage shows that the robber who gave Wang Li the money took two bundles of cash at random from that sack."

"There is no way to distinguish whether those two bundles were stolen from the bank or from customers who had already withdrawn their money and were preparing to leave. How can the bank prove that this money belonged to it?"

"If that cannot be established, then the bank cannot conclude that my client participated in robbing it. This money was indeed obtained through robbery, but my client was not the one who stole it. The robber handed the money to my client. At most, my client's conduct constitutes unjust enrichment. Therefore, I ask Nandu Bank to prove that this money belonged to it."

Everyone present: ????

You could actually do that?

Yu Caixia frowned slightly. In her many years as a presiding judge, she had heard hundreds of cases. Wang Li's robbery case had attracted enormous public attention, and the court president had assigned her to preside over it.

Yet this was the first time she had encountered a case with such a convoluted course, and questions

so outrageous.

Still, everything remained within the court's procedural rules. Yu Caixia did not let her emotions sway her and turned toward the bank's side.

"Does the bank have any evidence to refute the question raised by the plaintiff's counsel, or any statutory grounds for an objection?"

Li Mo felt as though his lungs were about to burst with anger.

Fucking hell. Fucking hell. Fucking hell.

Since when did a bank have to prove that its money belonged to it?

(End of chapter)