On the 29th, the Wenzhou Intermediate People’s Court in Zhejiang Province, China, publicly announced the verdict in the case of the Ming family criminal syndicate, one of the 'four major telecom fraud clans' in Kokang, northern Myanmar.
The court sentenced 11 defendants, including Ming Guoping, Ming Zhenzhen, Zhou Weichang, Wu Hongming, Wu Senlong, and Fu Yubin, to death.
Five defendants, including Yang Zhengxi and Fu Chengzhi, were sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve.
Eleven defendants, including Luo Jianzhang and Qiu Zhi, were sentenced to life imprisonment.
Twelve defendants, including Bi Huijun and Jiang Ji, were sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment ranging from 24 to 4 years, and were also given fines, confiscation of property, deportation, and other additional penalties.
China is committed to cracking down on telecom network fraud syndicates in northern Myanmar. In the Ming family criminal syndicate case, 39 people were prosecuted on December 30 last year.
The court found through investigation that since 2015, with core Ming family members such as Ming Xuechang (deceased), Ming Guoan (handled in a separate case), Ming Guoping, and Ming Zhenzhen as ringleaders, and with other Ming family members such as Bi Huijun and armed leader Zhou Weichang as key members, the Ming family criminal syndicate leveraged the Ming family’s influence in Kokang, Myanmar. They developed and relied on the armed forces controlled by the Ming family to set up multiple compounds in Laukkai, Shiyuanzi, Qingshuihe, and other areas. They recruited and harbored multiple 'financial backers' such as Wu Hongming, Luo Jianzhang, and Jiang Ji, providing them with armed protection, and colluded with criminal syndicates led by these 'financial backers' to commit telecom network fraud, operate casinos, traffic drugs, organize prostitution, and other criminal activities, involving more than 10 billion yuan in gambling and fraud proceeds.
The Ming family criminal syndicate, colluding with the telecom fraud group led by people such as Wu Hongming, killed or injured personnel involved in telecom fraud who attempted to escape or disobey management, resulting in 10 deaths and 2 injuries; on October 20, 2023, in order to prevent telecom fraud personnel from being handed over to China, the Ming family criminal syndicate, together with Wu Hongming and others, organized the transfer and hiding of telecom fraud personnel, during which Ming family armed members fired guns, causing another four deaths and four injuries.
The court held that Ming Guoping, Ming Zhenzhen, Zhou Weichang, Wu Hongming, Wu Senlong, Fu Yubin, and others organized, led, or participated in the criminal syndicate in carrying out crimes, and their actions constituted 14 crimes including fraud, intentional homicide, and intentional injury. Based on the facts, nature, circumstances of the crimes, and the degree of social harm caused by each defendant, the court made the above rulings in accordance with the law.