"Injecting glue to repair leaks, no need to break down walls, no damage..." This type of advertisement is familiar to many people. However, some people have been charged extortionate prices by repairmen, and have even been threatened with "soft violence" when they refused to pay. Does this behavior constitute a crime? How will the people's court rule on it?

[Facts Review]

In March 2022, Uncle Chen found a repair company online to fix his leaking toilet. Before the repair team began their work, they told Uncle Chen that an estimate of 7 to 10 jin (half a kilogram) of "qualified imported glue" would be required and the price would be 198 yuan per jin. Uncle Chen agreed, believing the total price reasonable. Unexpectedly, after the repair was completed, head of the repair team Xuan X charged an "extortionate" price of 14,000 yuan. Considering the charge significantly higher than the agreed price or the market price, Uncle Chen expressed disapproval at once and refused to pay. Then Xuan X and others banged on the table, made verbal threats and did other things to demand payment. Uncle Chen was over 60 years old and lived alone at home. After nearly two hours of being threatened by three strong men, Uncle Chen had no choice but to pay 10,000 yuan to avoid possible harassment in the future by these men, who had already known his home address and other information. However, Uncle Chen found that the leak had not been fixed on the next day, so he reported it to the local police. Coincidentally, Ms. Deng, Ms. Wang, Aunt Yan, and some others have had similar experiences. After investigation, the police found that the repair team had three regular members: Xuan the team leader, Ren (a) in charge of posting and taking orders online, and Ren (b), a repairman engaged in "injecting glue to repair leaks." During a crime, they often lured customers to agree with repair with a relatively low price, before raising the price on such excuses as a large leak. If the customer did not accept the high price, they would threaten the customer with "soft violence", such as verbal intimidation, lingering and harassing, pushing and shoving, and banging on the table. In another case, they had harassed a victim at his home for more than eight hours. The glue they used cost only 1 to 8 yuan per jin. And this "injecting glue to repair leaks" method cannot fix a leak ultimately but will damage the building's structure instead. From 2021 to 2023, Xuan and two others committed crimes separately or jointly using the above trick. Xuan played a part in 7 cases and obtained more than 62,000 yuan; Ren (a) played a part in 7 cases and obtained more than 70,000 yuan; Ren (b) played a part in 5 cases and obtained more than 57,000 yuan. After hearing the case, the people's court found that the accused Xuan, Ren (a), and Ren (b) often ganged up to psychologically coerce victims by means of "soft violence", repeatedly committed illegal and criminal activities in the industry involved, did evil things to common people, disrupted economic and social order, and caused bad social impact. So the court determined that the three people accused formed an evil force. With the purpose of illegal possession, the three people accused used "soft violence", individually or jointly, to force others to hand over money or property, amounting to a huge sum. Their behavior constitutes an offence of extortion by blackmail and should be punished according to the law.

Therefore, the people's court, after a comprehensive consideration of the accused people's criminal circumstances, the amount involved, and their repentance behaviors, lawfully sentenced Xuan to fixed-term imprisonment of three years and nine months and fined him 20,000 yuan, sentenced Ren (a) to fixed-term imprisonment of four years and fined him 30,000 yuan, sentenced Ren (b) to fixed-term imprisonment of three years with a five-year suspension and fined him 20,000 yuan.

[Judge's Remarks]

1. Demanding extortionate prices through "soft violence" constitutes extortion.

The extortion behavior conducted by "soft violence" in this case is more covert than traditional crimes and has the appearance of a transaction, making it easy to be confused with civil disputes. However, a closer examination of key issues such as the cost of the glue involved and the actual effect of "injecting glue to repair leaks" revealed that the criminals used inferior materials to fake "imported products." Their so-called "injecting glue to repair leaks" method could not achieve the effect of repairing leaks, yet they demanded charges far exceeding the initial quotes. This behavior clearly exceeds the scope of reasonable transactions, does not constitute normal business activities, and should be determined as having the purpose of illegal possession. Also, when the victims refused to pay, they used means of "soft violence," such as verbal intimidation, lingering and harassing, pushing and shoving, and banging on the table to create psychological coercion. The victims were often forced to accept unreasonable prices for fear of future harassment due to the exposed address. Therefore, their behavior constitutes an offence of extortion by blackmail.

2. Demonstrating a clear judicial stance of punishing such crimes severely

In this case, after reporting the case to the police, Uncle Chen also filed complaint with the market supervision department. But the accused did not agree with mediation and refused to refund the money, so Uncle Chen filed a civil lawsuit with the people's court. After hearing the case, the people's court determined that the behavior in this contract dispute constitutes a suspected crime and transferred leads of the case involved to the public security authorities. It reflects a clear stance of the judiciary: The people's courts have always maintained a tough stance on such offences of extortion as threatening common people with "soft violence" on the pretext of home decoration or repair, resolutely safeguarding the safety of the people's properties and the peace of their lives.

3. When choosing on-site repair services, make sure they have proper qualifications.

In this case, the criminals disguised themselves as a legitimate company and opened an online store to attract customers. Many victims were deceived because they were too ready to believe online stores or advertisements. The people¡¯s court reminds the public to carefully verify online information and prioritize qualified, guaranteed, professional repair companies. If you unfortunately fall into such a trap, keep the evidence promptly and report to the market supervision department or the public security authorities. Online platforms should intensify their supervision of repair companies, verify the compliance of their pricing, work process, materials used, and promotion content. The platforms also need to ensure smooth complaint and report channels, and establish an information transfer mechanism with the market supervision department, earnestly protecting consumers' legitimate rights and interests.

[Expert's Comments]

Li Zhenlin, Vice Dean and Professor, Criminal Justice College, East China University of Political Science and Law

Home decoration and repair are matters that concern the people's peaceful life and work, as well as their sense of gain, happiness and security. The people's court's ruling in this extortion case of "injecting glue to repair leaks" demonstrates the judiciary's commitment to serving the people and its responsibility for the rule of law, deserving full recognition. Currently, there are some irregularities in the home decoration and repair industry involving extortion through "soft violence": on the pretext of repair, criminals use inferior materials to fake quality products and demand extortionate prices through threats and harassment, seriously infringing on consumers' rights and interests and disrupting market order. The people's court precisely defined the criminal nature of "soft violence" behaviors, clarified the boundary between civil disputes and criminal offences, severely punished criminals according to the law, and set a legal benchmark for the governance of the industry. This ruling not only effectively protected the legitimate rights and interests of the victims, but also conveyed the steadfast determination of the judiciary to punish such covert crimes. At the same time, it reminds consumers to be cautious and urges online platforms and supervision authorities to consolidate responsibilities and jointly create a safe worry-free consumption environment.

[Link to Legal Provision]

Article 274 of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China stipulates: Whoever extorts relatively large amount of publicly-owned or privately-owned money or property by blackmail, or does so repeatedly, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention or public surveillance, and be concurrently or separately fined. If the amount is huge or there are other grave circumstances, he/she shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than ten years, and be concurrently fined. If the amount is especially huge or there are other especially serious circumstances, he/she shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than ten years and be concurrently fined.