China Punishes Notorious Burmese Fraud Mafia Members to Execution

One Chinese judicial body has sentenced several top members of an infamous Burmese organized crime group to execution as Chinese authorities maintains its campaign on fraudulent activities in South East Asia.

In all, twenty-one clan figures and partners were convicted of scams, homicide, assault and other offenses, said a state media announcement posted on the judicial website.

The group is one of a handful of organized crime groups that rose to power in the last two decades and converted the poor backwater town of Laukkaing into a profitable hub of gambling establishments and nightlife areas.

In recent years they turned to illegal operations in which numerous of illegally moved workers, a large number of them Chinese, are ensnared, abused and compelled to scam victims in criminal activities valued at billions.

Information of the Judgment

Mafia leader the patriarch and his heir Bai Yingcang were among the group of men sentenced to capital punishment by the judicial body. Yang Liqiang, Hu Xiaojiang and Chen Guangyi were the additional convicted.

Two members of the clan mafia were received conditional death penalties. Five were sentenced to permanent incarceration, while nine others were handed jail sentences varying from several years to two decades.

The clan, who led their own private army, created forty-one compounds to accommodate their cyberscam activities and gambling houses, government reported.

Magnitude of Unlawful Operations

Such unlawful enterprises entailed more than 29 billion yuan (over four billion dollars; over three billion pounds). They also caused the fatalities of several Chinese individuals, the self-inflicted death of an individual and multiple assaults, official sources stated.

The strict sentences issued by the court are part of the Chinese campaign to remove the large fraud operations in South East Asia - and deliver a firm warning to further criminal groups.

Background of the Clans

These clans rose to power in the recent decades with the assistance of Min Aung Hlaing - who is in charge of the country's junta. The leader had aimed to prop up associates in Laukkaing after ousting its previous warlord.

Within the clans, the Bais were "the most powerful", the son earlier told state media.

During that period, we was the leading in each of the political and armed circles," the individual remarked in a report about the Bai family, broadcast on national media in the summer.

During the film, a individual at their fraud facilities described the mistreatment he had experienced at the location: besides being hit, he had his nails removed with pliers and two of his digits amputated with a tool.

Additional Charges

The son is included in those who were sentenced to execution this week. He has also been separately convicted of planning to traffic and make 11 tonnes of illegal drugs, state media reported.

Downfall of the Groups

Their fall came in last year as situations altered.

For years Chinese authorities has pressed the local government to control fraudulent activities in Laukkaing.

Last year, the Chinese police released legal actions for the most prominent members of these clans.

Bai Suocheng, the clan's patriarch, was included in the individuals who were transferred to China from Myanmar in the beginning of the year.

"Why is the state making such extensive work to target the clans?" a Chinese investigator commented in the July documentary.

"It's to warn other people, no matter who you are, your location, as long as you carry out these heinous crimes affecting the nationals, you will face consequences."