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The Wenzhou Intermediate People’s Court sentenced Ming Guoping,
Ming Zhenzhen, Zhou Weichang — all members of a powerful family
in Kokkang, Myanmar — to death along with eight others,
according to a court statement.
The court also handed death sentences suspended for two years to
five others, while a further 12 defendants received jail
sentences of between five and 24 years. Two-year suspended death
sentences are often converted to life in prison.
The sentences came shortly after China on Sunday separately
sentenced former Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Tang
Renjian to death with reprieve for taking bribes. Tang took
bribes of more than 268 million yuan ($38 million) in cash and
property between 2007 and 2024, according to a statement by the
Intermediate People’s Court of Changchun in the northeastern
Jilin province.
China issued arrest warrants for members of the Ming family in
November 2023 on suspicion of fraud, murder and illegal
detention as part of a crackdown on illegal scam operations near
the border with Myanmar.
The syndicate's crimes resulted in the deaths of 10 workers and
injuries to two others who tried to escape the scam centers it
ran, the court statement said.
The centers, in which criminals run sophisticated online scams
targeting people all over the world, have proliferated in
countries in Southeast Asia, including Myanmar, Laos and
Cambodia. They often use trafficked workers who are forced to
conduct romance-based investment scams as part of a globalized
industry that the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
estimates is worth $40 billion annually.
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.
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