Fresh details reveal seized lawyers' misconduct in, outside court

Zhou never returned the one million yuan, an unnamed lawyer with the firm said.

"Acts of a minority of lawyers have gone far beyond the realm of their professional practices, severely violating lawyers' professional ethics, disrupting judicial activities and social orders," said He Yong, a senior official with the Ministry of Justice.

Saturday's statement also revealed evidence pointing to possible tax evasion and bribing state functionaries in order to win cases.

In the trademark case, Zhou reportedly let the defendants wire the one million yuan as well as 300,000 yuan to compensate traffic costs directly to his personal account.

"Attorney's fees were often wired into my own accounts or accounts related to me, and I didn't pay tax for those fees. It was a severe violation of the law," Zhou confessed.

According to Liu, Zhou also paid firm employees' salaries himself, exact figures unknown to the financing office, noting that it might be related to tax evasion.

Several suspects have confessed and shown regrets.

"Our acts were not compatible with a normal lawyer. Whether practicing the law or being a citizen, no matter what problems emerge, we should always resort to legal channels to solve them," Liu said.

Liu added that "savage acts" can only become negative factors in the country's rule of law and might also be taken advantage by foreign malicious forces.