China has executed 11 members of a criminal gang convicted of luring foreigners—including Kenyans—into scam compounds in Myanmar, where they ran a billion‑dollar online fraud and illegal gambling network.
The criminal syndicate was convicted of running a vast online fraud and illegal gambling operation that generated more than $1.4 billion, according to state media and court records.
The executions, approved by China’s Supreme People’s Court and carried out in eastern Zhejiang province, underscore Beijing’s intensifying crackdown on transnational crime networks operating across Southeast Asia. These networks have increasingly affected victims and financial systems far beyond the region, including in Africa.
Chinese authorities said the defendants were key figures in the so‑called Ming family criminal group, which operated multiple scam compounds in Myanmar’s northern Kokang region—an area long associated with fraud, human trafficking and weak law enforcement.
Kenya’s government has said it worked with Thai authorities to rescue more than 100 Kenyans trafficked to Myanmar under the guise of teaching jobs, only to be trapped in telecom fraud schemes.
The 11 were sentenced to death in September last year after being convicted of crimes including intentional homicide, fraud, illegal detention and running illegal gambling operations.
Court findings revealed the syndicate’s activities led to the deaths of at least 14 Chinese citizens and left several others injured. In November, a provincial high court rejected appeals, clearing the way for executions under Chinese law.
The Chinese government said the gang defrauded pensioners, driving some to suicide, and targeted global online finance systems through schemes disguised as dating sites.
State news agency Xinhua reported that the group ran telecom fraud and online gambling centres staffed by trafficked workers coerced into scamming victims worldwide. Authorities said the network also used violence to maintain control, including killing four people who attempted to escape a compound in October 2023.
The penalty highlights China’s stringent measures against online fraud, but also exposes how institutional weaknesses in other countries allow such networks to thrive. Myanmar has been at war since the junta seized power in 2021, but does not control the entire territory.
As a result, scam networks have flourished in Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos, exploiting lawlessness to commit fraud, human trafficking and drug trafficking.
Officials said many Ming family victims were from Asia, but financial investigators noted that African countries, including Kenya, are increasingly being drawn into the syndicates through recruitment as workers.
In December, Kenya’s State Department for Diaspora Affairs confirmed the government had repatriated 119 Kenyans from illegal scam compounds in Myanmar, with efforts ongoing to rescue the remaining 198.
Recent raids by Myanmar authorities and clashes with rebel groups have left hundreds stranded in military shelters and in Thailand.
The compounds, located in Karen State near the Thai border, were used by criminal syndicates to commit online fraud. Workers, including Kenyans, were recruited under false promises of legitimate employment.
