Courts in China have sentenced three key figures of a notorious Myanmar crime syndicate to death for operating large-scale cross-border telecoms fraud networks and causing the deaths of four Chinese nationals.
The Quanzhou Intermediate People’s Court and the Nanan City People’s Court in southeastern Fujian province handed down the rulings against syndicate head Wei Huairen, his nephew Chen Dawei and accomplice Liao Jingfang on Tuesday, following a trial held in May, state broadcaster CCTV reported.
They are among 61 members of the family-run Wei syndicate convicted of running massive cyber scam centres as well as illegal detention and extortion rings out of northern Myanmar targeting victims across China.
Three other key defendants – Wei Qingtao, Kang Min and Xiong Hengxing – were sentenced to life in prison, while 55 accomplices received fixed prison terms ranging from 39 months to 24 years.