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Xinlu Liang

An alleged Myanmar crime boss and members of his syndicate were put on trial this week in the latest stage of Beijing’s sweeping crackdown on cross-border scam networks.
Wei Huairen, also known as Wai San, faces charges including fraud, murder, extortion and organising illegal border crossings, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported on Friday.
Prosecutors allege that from 2019 onwards, the syndicate used the Wei family’s military and political influence in Myanmar’s Kokang region to operate multiple scam compounds that defrauded victims in China of more than 24 billion yuan (US$3.5 billion). Two Chinese citizens are also alleged to have been killed.
The syndicate is also said to have offered armed protection to “investors” who ran telecoms fraud operations from these compounds, according to the report.
Prosecutors also allege that Chen Dawei, Wei’s nephew, was involved in the two murders, among other crimes. Three other suspects, Liao Jingfang, Kang Min and Xiong Hengxing, have also been charged with a range of offences.
The trial at Quanzhou Intermediate People’s Court in China’s southeastern province of Fujian ran from Tuesday to Friday. The court has now adjourned and it is not known when it will deliver its verdicts.
The case is one of Beijing’s last efforts to dismantle the criminal empires that once operated with near-total impunity along the Myanmar border.
The Wei family was one of the infamous “four families” that for years dominated Kokang, a semi-autonomous region in northern Myanmar bordering China’s Yunnan province.
The Wei, Bai, Liu and Ming families controlled the local economy, running operations that included mining, casinos, real estate and – most lucratively – telecoms scam compounds.
These families operated with impunity for years, using private militias and their political connections to run the compounds, where trafficked workers were forced to take part in online fraud schemes.
Those who failed to meet quotas or tried to escape faced beatings, torture and even murder.
The tide turned in late 2023, when the Chinese authorities launched a coordinated campaign with the local authorities to extradite key figures.
The crackdown has so far netted more than 57,000 Chinese nationals suspected of involvement in the scam operations.


In March, China’s top court and prosecution authority both highlighted the campaign against the four families in their annual work reports, saying 16 people had been sentenced to death while 39 had been jailed for life or given suspended death sentences.
Earlier in October, CCTV aired a confession by Wei Huairen, adding that the Wei family was different from the other Kokang crime syndicates because its leader directly commanded an army unit, while the others hired militias.
In January, 11 members of the Ming family were executed for crimes including fraud, drug trafficking and murder. Another five were given suspended death sentences by a court in Wenzhou in Zhejiang province.
In November, a court in the southern city of Shenzhen sentenced five members of the Bai family, including patriarch Bai Suocheng and his son Bai Yingcang, to death. The older Bai died in custody before the sentence could be carried out, but the other four were executed in February.
In October, several members of the Liu family were charged by a court in Longyan in Fujian.


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Myanmar’s Wei family put on trial in latest phase of China’s crackdown on scam compounds

Wei Huairen pictured at the time of his arrest in January 2024. Photo: Xinhua

Cambodia raids buildings linked to Chen Zhi, Chinese billionaire accused of scam empire

The detained individuals are of six nationalities and are accused of running online scam operations or residing in Cambodia illegally, local media report says. Photo: Sohu

Cambodian authorities raid buildings in Phnom Penh’s Prince Plaza Centre, where they seized laptops, mobile phones and other equipment. Photo: Sohu

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Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi meets Min Aung Hlaing, Myanmar’s junta leader-turned-president, in Naypyidaw on Saturday. Photo: Xinhua

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The clan, one of Kokang’s ‘four families’, is accused of a range of crimes including murder, fraud and extortion


The clan, one of Kokang’s ‘four families’, is accused of a range of crimes including murder, fraud and extortion.


Myanmar

Myanmar’s Wei family put on trial in latest phase of China’s crackdown on scam compounds

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The clan, one of Kokang’s ‘four families’, is accused of a range of crimes including murder, fraud and extortion

The clan, one of Kokang’s ‘four families’, is accused of a range of crimes including murder, fraud and extortion