Chinese police order arrest of alleged Myanmar crime family over vast telecoms fraud operation
- Warrants issued for Kokang politician and his three adult children accused of targeting Chinese nationals
- Rewards of up to US$68,400 offered for information leading to an arrest
The Wenzhou Public Security Bureau in China’s eastern Zhejiang province issued the warrants on Sunday for Ming Xuechang – a politician in Myanmar’s Kokang region – and his three adult children.
Ming Xuechang, 69, is a former member of Myanmar’s Shan State legislature and a former member of the Kokang Leadership Committee.
One of his sons, Ming Guoping, a militia squadron leader in Kokang, is also wanted along with Ming Xuechang’s daughters 42-year-old Ming Julan and 27-year-old Ming Zhenzhen, both from Lincang in Yunnan province.
The authorities are offering rewards of up to 500,000 yuan (US$68,400) in each of the cases for information leading to an arrest.
China has stepped up efforts to tackle the issue this year as cases of victims have spread online.
Many online posts describe ways that people were tricked and then violently forced to engage in investment fraud, romance scams and extortion on behalf of the syndicates.
The money generated is often diverted through casinos and converted into hard-to-trace cryptocurrencies.
Beijing has responded by targeting Chinese fugitives believed to be at the apex of the multibillion-dollar frauds.
Similar warrants was issued last month for Bao Yanban and He Chuntian, two officials from Myanmar’s Wa State who allegedly made “huge amounts” of money in an “extremely vile” criminal enterprise.
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Bordering southwestern China’s Yunnan province, both the Kokang and Wa regions have a high level of autonomy and a high proportion of the population is ethnic Chinese.
The Ming family is believed to be influential in Kokang and was reportedly involved in a bloody conflict in the region on October 20 when they tried to relocate people forced into scam activities.
According to unverified videos and images circulating online, a number of people were shot or buried alive after some tried to flee.
Last month, state news agency Xinhua reported that more than 4,600 suspects in telecoms network fraud in northern Myanmar had been successfully captured and handed over to China, including 205 fugitives profiled in online wanted notices.
