Appeals filed

Many lawyers who offered to help He and his family members said they tried various means to file appeals for him.

"We have spent almost all the savings of our family, more than 300,000 yuan, for our son's case," said He's mother Meng Xiaoyue.

"We've been to Beijing 10 more times and we had to go to the city or the provincial capital almost three times a month."

He's family filed a third and last appeal to the higher court in July last year and on Nov 18 the court made the order to ascertain the facts of He's first trial and changed his sentence to eight-and-a-half years in prison.

"Thanks to those lawyers, law experts, journalists and the friends and relatives, my son's fate changed," He Jiangui, the man's father, said at a banquet on Saturday to welcome He home and thank supporters.

"He (Peng) was imprisoned while he was only a student. Now he's a 30 year-old man. What I am concerned about most is his lack of social experience. I wish he could marry a good girl and live a peaceful and normal life," his father said.

Yao Yongan, He's lawyer, maintains that He is innocent. He claims that it was a malfunction of the ATM machine that led to the case of Xu Ting in Guangzhou. However, He Peng's case was caused by the bank's mistake. He argues that the bank mistakenly deposited 1 million yuan into He's account, and that led to the consequences.

Now, Yao said he would enter a plea of not guilty for He's crime. If he succeeds, He would apply for State compensation.

Zhu Wei, a lawyer and PhD candidate of the law school of the Beijing-based Renmin University of China, who had hosted a series of seminars on He Peng's case, suggested that this case is quite different from the case of Xu Ting.

Xu's case is one of larceny, while He's case leans toward a misappropriation offense. Under civil law, He's case is one of illegitimate gains caused by bank's fault. As such, the essence of He's case is said to be milder than Xu's.

In an interview with the Kunming-based Metro Times, He Peng said he did wrong but that he is not guilty of the crime he was charged with.

"I need to think about filing the appeal," He said, adding that he should re-enter society as soon as possible and support his debt-ridden family.