Leo B. Zhu

Leo Zhu is a partner at Yuanda based in Shanghai.  He focuses his practice on white collar crime litigation, criminal defense, compliance & regulation.

As a Chinese licensed lawyer, Leo has acted in a large quantity of cases and projects, including economic crimes, corruption and bribery crimes, food and environment crimes, and achieved favorable results for numerous clients. He is widely recognized among his peers in the legal profession for his outstanding achievements.

Leo graduated from East China University of Political Science and Law, having earned a bachelor’s degree in Law, a bachelor’s degree in Management, and a master’s degree in Law.

Experience

White Collar Crime Litigation and Criminal Defense

  • Represented a wholly owned subsidiary of a listed company in defending against accusations relating to environmental pollution of hazardous waste, and the case was withdrawn without guilt by the police.
  • Represented a senior executive of a subsidiary of a high-tech company listed on the National Equities Exchange and Quotations (also known as NEEQ or the New Third Board), who was accused of tampering with environmental monitoring data, and the case was withdrawn without guilt by the police.
  • Represented a senior executive of a company in Shanghai, in defending against allegations relating to a RMB50 million contract fraud. The client was released without guilt by the Procuratorate.
  • Represented the actual controller of a company in Shanghai, in defending against allegations relating to a RMB30 million contract fraud, and the case was withdrawn without guilt by the police.
  • Represented the relatives of the actual controller of an Internet finance company in Zhejiang, in defending against allegations of money laundering, and the case was withdrawn without guilt by the police.
  • Represented a Chinese entrepreneur in defending against allegations of bigamy, and the case was withdrawn without guilt by the police.
  • Represented the legal representative of Jiangsu Gemsea Automobile Company in defending against allegations relating to a RMB180 million fraud that was reported by CCTV.
  • Represented the chef at an Internet celebrity bakery in Shanghai in defending against allegations of manufacturing or marketing fake or shoddy products (as reported in mass media), and the client was granted a suspension of sentence by the court.
  • Represented an employee in the private banking department of the ICBC head office in defending against allegations of bribery (accepting more than RMB70 million bribes, supervised by the National Supervisory Commission of China).
  • Represented an executive of a Chinese company listed on NASDAQ in defending against allegations of embezzlement of RMB200 million.
  • Represented a state functionary in Anhui Province in defending against allegations of corruption, bribery, misappropriation of public funds, picking quarrels and provoking troubles (supervised by the Provincial Supervisory team).
  • Represented a senior executive of a high-tech enterprise in Hangzhou in defending against allegations of environmental pollution, and the client was granted a suspension of sentence by the court.
  • Represented a manager of a large shopping mall in defending against allegations of loan fraud, and the client was sentenced with the conviction of defrauding loans, and granted a suspension of sentence by the court.
  • Represented a senior executive of a real estate development company in Zhejiang in defending against allegations of embezzlement of more than RMB5 million. In the end, the court found that the embezzled funds only amounted to more than RMB900,000 and granted the client a suspension of sentence.
  • Represented executives at “Kuailu”, “Zhongjin”, and many other P2P platforms in defending against allegations of illegally taking deposits from the public. The largest amount alleged was more than RMB18 billion, and some clients were granted a suspension of sentence by the court.

Compliance and Regulation

  • Represented a U.S. company’s subsidiary in China to conduct internal investigations, which revealed facts and evidence about the financial ’manager’s embezzlement, and filed a criminal complaint on behalf of the company. The court found that the financial manager committed a crime of embezzlement.
  • Represented a high-tech company to run an internal investigation on trade secret protection, and file a criminal complaint against employees who had disclosed its trade secrets to the competitors.

Mergers and Acquisitions

  • Represented a fortune 500 French company in its merger a Chinese clean energy company.
  • Represented a group company in its merger a state-owned clean energy company.

Accolades

  • In 2021, Leo was recognized as a “intermediate lawyer” by the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Human Resources and Social Security.
  • In 2020, Leo was named a “Expert Lawyer in the Criminal Field” by the Shanghai Bar Association.

Publications

  • A main contributor to “Guide to Legal Aid for College Students,” Law Press, 2012
  • “Dynamic Burden of Proof and Relative Proof Standards for Extorting a Confession by Torture,” “Material in the Copy Press from Renmin University (a core journal in China), 2011