BEIJING: Chinese courts handled some 40,000 cases of telecom and online fraud last year, a 26.7 per cent spike from 2023 as the country ramped up efforts to stamp out criminal scam operations operating out of Myanmar.
Legal prosecution and judicial figures were released by the Supreme People’s Procuratorate (SPP), China’s top prosecutorial body, and the Supreme People’s Court (SPC) as part of the ongoing National People’s Congress (NPC) meetings in Beijing.
The SPC said the 40,000 telecom fraud cases last year involved 82,000 defendants.
The SPP reported charging 78,000 individuals with telecom fraud, marking a significant increase of 53.9 per cent from the year before.
The reports come days after hundreds of Chinese nationals freed from scam centres in Myanmar, were flown home through Thailand as part of ongoing cross-border efforts to repatriate workers.
The SPP report highlighted the case of 39 members of a Myanmar-based criminal syndicate known as “the Ming family”, who were prosecuted along with affiliated criminal groups by authorities in the eastern Zhejiang province.
The group was reportedly involved in gambling and fraud-related transactions exceeding 10 billion yuan (US$1.37 billion) that resulted in the deaths of 14 Chinese nationals and injuries to six others, according to state outlet CCTV News.
The first trials for 23 defendants began last month, according to local news reports.
SAFEGUARDING SOCIAL STABILITY
China’s courts also strengthened punishment against those convicted of crimes disrupting social order.
In its report, the SPC said 2024 saw 49,000 cases of serious violent crimes involving 58,000 individuals, which also included homicide cases. This a 5.8 per cent decrease as compared to the previous year.
