Myanmar-based fraud group prosecuted in city

Twenty-one key figures of a northern Myanmar-based group that conducted scams targeting Chinese nationals have been prosecuted as part of the country’s ongoing crackdown on telecom and online fraud.

The People’s Procuratorate of Shenzhen recently filed charges — including fraud, running casinos, blackmail, intentional homicide, intentional injury, kidnapping, and the manufacture and sale of drugs — against the group, according to a statement released Friday.

Bay Saw Chain and Bay Yin Chin, leaders of the so-called “Bay family” criminal group, relied on armed groups to engage in telecom and online fraud that mainly targeted Chinese nationals in China.

The “Bay family” is one of several major fraud groups based in northern Myanmar that have been dismantled as a result of joint China-Myanmar law enforcement operations.

According to details released by the Ministry of Public Security on Friday, the group is suspected of involvement in the deaths of six Chinese citizens and was linked to over 31,000 telecom fraud cases involving over 10.6 billion yuan (US$1.48 billion). The group was also engaged in the production and trafficking of around 11 metric tons of drugs.

The ministry said the group used its influence in Kokang, Myanmar, to build 41 large-scale compounds, attracting a large number of gangs to conduct telecom fraud and illegal gambling operations targeting Chinese nationals.

The group also recruited and lured China nationals into illegally crossing the border to engage in gambling and fraudulent schemes, the ministry said.

It noted that the group established the “Kokang entertainment management committee” and raked in huge illegal gains in the form of rent and security fees, among others. It used the illicit funds to support the armed groups that protected its operations.

The group was also found to have endorsed violent enforcement tactics, including abuse, assault, and murder, for lower-level telecom fraud operatives.

In November 2023, the ministry instructed the Shenzhen police to investigate the “Bay family.” Police in Dalian, Liaoning Province, later issued public wanted notices for leaders of the criminal group.

In January 2024, under the China-Myanmar law enforcement and security cooperation mechanism, Myanmar handed over Bay Saw Chain and Bay Yin Chin to Chinese authorities. To date, as many as 36 key suspects involved in the “Bay family” have been captured.

Chinese police — to get a clearer picture of the group’s crimes against Chinese nationals and with the support of their Myanmar counterparts — traveled to northern Myanmar five times to collect evidence, including victims’ remains and drug manufacturing equipment, the ministry said. Shenzhen police also gathered evidence from fraud victims nationwide, it added. (China Daily)