30 September 2025 , 12:37
901
0
A court in China has sentenced 11 people to death for their alleged roles in a family-run crime syndicate accused of operating illegal gambling and scam activities worth more than $1.4 billion, and for the deaths of workers who defied them.
On Monday, the Wenzhou intermediate people’s court sentenced 11 members of the powerful Ming family in Kokang, Myanmar to death, while another five received death sentences suspended for two years.
An additional 12 defendants were given prison sentences ranging from five to 24 years. Two-year suspended death sentences are often converted to life imprisonment.
In November 2023, China issued arrest warrants for four members of the Ming family on suspicion of fraud, murder, and illegal detention as part of a crackdown on illegal scam operations near the border with Myanmar.
The syndicate had "relied on armed force" to set up multiple compounds in Kokang, the court stated in a message posted on social media.
The court alleged the group had killed 14 people, including 10 involved in fraud who tried to escape or defied its leadership. It referred to one incident in October 2023, when the accused allegedly "opened fire" on people at a scam compound to stop them from being transferred back to China.
The group’s activities attracted numerous "financial backers" to whom it offered armed protection, according to the court.
Scam centers, where criminals conduct sophisticated online scams targeting people worldwide, have proliferated in countries in Southeast Asia, including Myanmar, Laos, and Cambodia.
They often use trafficked workers who are forced to carry out romance-based investment scams as part of a globalized industry that the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime estimates to be worth $40 billion annually.
In April, the UN warned that Chinese and Southeast Asian gangs are earning tens of billions of dollars a year through cyber scam centers.
China is cracking down on scam centers in the region through joint operations or coordinating with local police forces.
In February, China, Myanmar, and Thailand exerted pressure on scam centers located along the Thai-Myanmar border, resulting in the release of more than 7,000 workers, most of whom were Chinese citizens.
Head of Investigations