China executes 11 ‘key members’ linked to scams in multibillion-dollar global fraud empire

China has executed 11 people linked to scam syndicates operating out of Myanmar’s border regions, as a warning to criminal gangs running a multibillion-dollar global fraud industry.

Chinese State media said the executions targeted “key members” of telecom and online scam operations, including figures from the notorious Ming family criminal group, whose activities were blamed for the deaths of 14 Chinese citizens and injuries to “many others”.

The executions were carried out on Thursday after the group was sentenced to death in September by a court in the eastern Chinese city of Wenzhou, according to state news agency Xinhua.

The death sentences were approved by the Supreme People’s Court in Beijing, which found the evidence of crimes committed since 2015 was “conclusive and sufficient”.

Crimes committed by those executed included “intentional homicide, intentional injury, unlawful detention, fraud and casino establishment”, Xinhua reported.

“The criminals’ close relatives were allowed to meet with them before the execution,” the agency added.

The executions come amid an intensified crackdown by Beijing on scam compounds that have flourished across Myanmar’s borderlands and parts of South-East Asia.

The centers run phone and internet scams, luring victims into fake romantic relationships and cryptocurrency investments.

Initially targeting Chinese speakers, the syndicates expanded into multiple languages, stealing billions of dollars from victims worldwide.

Experts and the United Nations say many of the scam centers are staffed by trafficked foreign nationals forced to work under threat of violence.

According to testimonies from freed workers, within the sprawling heavily guarded compounds, beatings and torture were routine,

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime has estimated that hundreds of thousands of people are working in scam centers globally and warned the industry is spreading beyond South-East Asia to South America, Africa, the Middle East, Europe and the Pacific.

The Mine family was one of several crime clans that dominated the town of Laukkaing in Myanmar’s Kokang region, transforming it from an impoverished border town into a hub of casinos, red-light districts and online fraud operations.

Their empire collapsed in 2023 after ethnic militias seized control of Laukkaing during an escalation in fighting with Myanmar’s military. Members of the Ming family were detained and handed over to Chinese authorities.

China’s top court said the Ming family’s scam and gambling operations generated more than 10 billion yuan ($1.4 billion) between 2015 and 2023.

Ming Xuechang, the clan’s patriarch, killed himself in 2023 while trying to avoid detention, Myanmar’s military said at the time.

More than 20 other Ming family members were sentenced in September to prison terms ranging from five years to life. Another five individuals received death sentences with two-year reprieves, while 23 others were jailed.

The Mine family members are the first major Myanmar-based scam bosses to be executed by China, but officials have signalled they will not be the last.

In November, five members of the Bai family were also sentenced to death for scam operations in Myanmar, while trials involving members of the Wei and Liu families are ongoing.

In recent years, Beijing has stepped up co-operation with regional governments to dismantle scam networks, repatriating thousands of suspects to face trial in China’s opaque justice system.

Last year alone, more than 7,600 Chinese nationals suspected of online gambling and telecom fraud were repatriated from Myanmar’s border regions, according to China’s Public Security Ministry.

With AFP