A Hardline Judgment from Wenzhou Court
A court in China has sentenced 11 individuals — mainly members of Myanmar’s influential Ming family — to death for their roles in a massive cross-border scam, gambling, and fraud empire. The ruling came from the Wenzhou Intermediate People’s Court in Zhejiang Province.
Among those condemned to death are Ming Guoping, Ming Zhenzhen, and Zhou Weichang. Five others received death sentences with a two-year reprieve (which often become life sentences if no further crimes are committed), and at least 12 more were given prison sentences ranging from 5 to 24 years.
The Crimes: Fraud, Murder & Forced Labor
The court found that the Ming family criminal syndicate had been operating since at least 2015, leveraging the Kokang region in northern Myanmar to host “scam compounds” that pushed online scams, gambling operations, telecom fraud, and more.
Read Also: Former Chinese Agriculture Minister Tang Renjian Sentenced to Death with Reprieve for Bribery
Workers in these scam hubs were reportedly trafficked under false promises or trapped, forced to commit online scams, and sometimes punished violently if they attempted to escape. The court stated that 10 workers died and 2 were injured during attempts to flee.
The total illicit proceeds from gambling and fraud were estimated at ¥10+ billion (roughly US$1.4 billion).
Legal Context & Suspended Deaths
In China’s legal system, a death sentence with reprieve means that if the convict behaves well and does not commit new crimes during the two years, the sentence is often commuted to life in prison.
The court also confiscated all illicit properties connected to the defendants and deprived them of political rights for life.
Implications & Regional Impact
This judgment is among Beijing’s most severe steps against cross-border crime rings operating in Southeast Asia. The crackdown is part of broader pressure on “scam factories” — fraudulent centers targeting people globally — many of which are suspected to operate from Myanmar, Laos, and Cambodia.
The sentence sends a stark warning to criminal syndicates involved in mass fraud, human trafficking and forced labor in the region.
Cross-border cooperation has been key: China has been working with Myanmar and Thailand to identify, dismantle, and repatriate workers from these compounds. Earlier this year, over 7,000 workers were rescued from scam centers along the Thai-Myanmar border.
