WENZHOU, China – A Chinese court has handed down death sentences to 11 members of a notorious family crime syndicate that ran massive scam centres in northern Myanmar, in what Beijing has described as a landmark crackdown on cross-border fraud.
According to state broadcaster CCTV, the court in the eastern Chinese city of Wenzhou on Monday convicted 39 members of the Ming family for their role in running gambling, drugs and online fraud operations in Laukkai, a remote Myanmar town on the Chinese border once infamous for its lawlessness.
Besides the 11 death sentences, five members received suspended death penalties, 11 were jailed for life, and the rest were handed terms ranging from five to 24 years.
The court heard that since 2015 the Ming family had operated scam compounds that lured tens of thousands of people—many of them Chinese nationals—into forced labour, generating more than 10 billion yuan ($1.4bn) in illegal profits.
The syndicate was also linked to drug trafficking, prostitution, and the killings of several scam centre workers who tried to escape.
One of the family’s compounds, known as Crouching Tiger Villa, became notorious for holding thousands of workers in brutal conditions, where torture and violence were routine.
The Ming clan was one of four families that controlled Laukkai, which had evolved into a hub for casinos, fraud rings and trafficking networks.
The United Nations has called the scam operations across Southeast Asia a “scamdemic,” estimating that over 100,000 foreign nationals were forced into the schemes.
The group’s downfall began in 2023, when Myanmar authorities cracked down and handed many suspects to Chinese officials, following a major insurgent offensive in Shan State that toppled military control of the region.
Family patriarch Ming Xuechang reportedly committed suicide, while others surrendered to Chinese police.
The verdicts underline Beijing’s determination to stamp out cross-border scam operations, which have become a political and security headache for China.
Similar pressure from Beijing has also forced Thailand and Cambodia to take tougher measures against scam centres operating along their borders.
