A Chinese court has sentenced three leading members of a Myanmar scam gang to death over crimes including murder, telecommunications fraud and illegal gambling, with 58 other defendants receiving prison sentences.
The rulings were delivered on Tuesday, October 13, by the Quanzhou Intermediate People’s Court and Nan’an People’s Court in China’s southeastern Fujian province, according to state news agency Xinhua.
The three defendants sentenced to death were identified as Wei Huairen, Chen Dawei and Liao Jingfang, members of a criminal network associated with the influential Wei family in Myanmar’s Kokang region.
Three other defendants received life imprisonment, while the remaining 55 were sentenced to prison terms ranging from three years and three months to 24 years.
The courts also imposed additional penalties, including fines, confiscation of property and deportation in applicable cases.
According to Xinhua, the courts found that the Wei family used its regional influence and armed forces to establish and protect multiple scam compounds in Kokang, northern Myanmar.
From 2019, the network carried out telecommunications fraud, illegal gambling, extortion, organised prostitution, drug trafficking and unlawful border crossings.
The courts determined that the group’s fraud and gambling operations involved more than 12.2 billion yuan (approximately 61.2 billion baht). Investigators also uncovered violence within the compounds, where armed personnel controlled workers and punished those who refused to follow orders.
The courts found that the Wei family network, working with other scam groups, was responsible for killing two Chinese nationals who disobeyed instructions while involved in fraudulent operations.
In a separate finding, Chen Dawei, a member of the family network, used armed militia personnel under his control to carry out killings that resulted in the deaths of two additional Chinese nationals.
The defendants were convicted of seven offences, including intentional homicide and fraud. The courts said the sentences reflected the nature, circumstances and consequences of their crimes.
Lawmakers, political advisers, relatives of those involved and members of the public attended the sentencing proceedings.
In February, China’s Supreme People’s Court announced that judicial proceedings against two other major criminal groups, associated with the Ming and Bai families, had concluded. Those cases resulted in 16 death sentences.
The latest Wei family judgments were delivered at first instance, meaning the death sentences remain subject to further judicial procedures, including mandatory review by China’s Supreme People’s Court.
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