China Executes Eleven Members of Crime Family Linked to Myanmar Scam Hubs

Chinese authorities have executed 11 members of the Ming family, a powerful crime clan that operated scam compounds and illegal gambling businesses in northern Myanmar, according to state media reports on Thursday.

The individuals were sentenced to death in September by a court in eastern China’s Zhejiang province after being extradited from Myanmar in 2023. Prosecutors said the group was responsible for crimes including intentional homicide, large-scale fraud and the operation of underground casinos. Although the actions took place in Myanmar, Chinese courts said they had jurisdiction because the victims were Chinese citizens.

Court rulings said the Ming family’s operations generated more than $1.4 billion (10 billion yuan) in fraudulent proceeds and were linked to the detention and abuse of workers at scam compounds, resulting in the deaths of at least 14 Chinese nationals and injuries to many others.

The executions mark another step in Beijing’s campaign against transnational scam networks. “For some time, China has been actively working with Myanmar and other countries in combating crimes of cross-border telecom and online fraud,” said Guo Jiakun, foreign ministry spokesperson, in a statement responding to a question about the executions.

“These efforts have achieved remarkable results. China will continue deepening international law enforcement cooperation, step up efforts of combating telecom fraud and online gambling and other related cross-border crimes, and eradicate the problems of gambling and scam.”

Scam compounds and crypto

Scam compounds operating primarily in Southeast Asia are responsible for billions in fraud each year. These outfits conduct sophisticated online pig butchering and investment scams, many of which use cryptocurrency to steal the savings of victims. In 2024, more than $9 billion in losses related to crypto-powered fraud and scams were reported to the FBI.

Last November, Interpol designated Southeast Asian scam compounds as a transnational criminal threat affecting victims from more than 60 countries, highlighting their use of human trafficking, online fraud, and coerced labor.

The Ming family was one of the so-called “four families”—alongside the Bai, Liu and Wei clans—that dominated criminal activity in the region for years. Their enterprises, which expanded rapidly after 2015, spanned online scamming, casinos and drugs, as well as real estate and hotels, with syndicates having close ties to local political and military elites. Some family members held official posts, while clans were said to maintain private armies.

Based in the border town of Laukkaing, which was transformed from a quiet outpost into a hub for casinos and illicit businesses, the Ming clan ran its empire for roughly two decades. During a Chinese-backed insurgency against the military junta in 2023, local militias seized control of the area and handed over ethnic Chinese crime figures to Beijing. The family patriarch, Ming Xuechang, reportedly died by suicide before he could be detained.

In total, 39 members of the Ming family and their associates were sentenced in September last year. In addition to the 11 executions, five defendants received death sentences with a two-year reprieve—a penalty often commuted to life imprisonment—while another 11 were given life sentences. The remaining defendants received prison terms ranging from five to 24 years. Executions in China are typically carried out by lethal injection, though authorities did not specify the method used in this case.

Appeals by those sentenced to death were rejected by the Zhejiang Provincial Higher People’s Court, with the Supreme People’s Court later approving the executions. Authorities said the crimes involved were “particularly heinous,” with severe consequences that warranted the harshest punishment under Chinese law.

The Ming case is part of a broader series of prosecutions targeting Myanmar-based crime families. In November, a court in Shenzhen sentenced five members of the rival Bai family to death for their role in running dozens of scam centers, along with casinos, drug operations and prostitution rings. Cases involving members of the Wei and Liu families are still ongoing.

Chinese authorities say more than 57,000 Chinese nationals suspected of fraud have been arrested and repatriated from Myanmar since 2023. In December, the Ministry of Public Security released a list of 100 additional suspects—both Chinese and Myanmar nationals—wanted in connection with scam operations, offering cash rewards for information leading to their capture.