Police offer rewards for telecom fraud fugitives

China's Ministry of Public Security has issued public notices seeking information on the whereabouts of 100 fugitives identified as major financiers and core members of telecom and online fraud rings, including key suspects linked to the four notorious family-based criminal groups operating in northern Myanmar.

Police authorities in Hangzhou and Wenzhou in Zhejiang province, Quanzhou and Longyan in Fujian province, Pingdingshan in Henan province, Shenzhen in Guangdong province, Kunming in Yunnan province, and Chongqing said they are offering rewards for information that could lead to the arrest of the suspects. The ministry said criminal facts have been established, with substantial evidence linking the fugitives to the crimes.

Police urged the suspects to stop their criminal activities and surrender voluntarily in exchange for lenient treatment. Authorities also called on the public to provide tips that could assist in apprehending the fugitives.

The ministry added that 1,178 Chinese nationals suspected of involvement in telecom and online fraud in Myanmar's Myawaddy region were recently escorted back to China via Thailand. The suspects were detained during a joint law enforcement operation by police from China, Myanmar and Thailand targeting fraud operations that have victimized Chinese citizens.

Police officers from Jiangxi province have been deployed to Mae Sot, Thailand, since Dec 1, to carry out chartered escort missions for the suspects' repatriation, while conducting parallel investigations into related cases, the ministry said.

Since the launch of coordinated repatriation efforts by China, Myanmar, and Thailand on Feb 20, over 6,600 Chinese nationals suspected of telecom and online fraud have been escorted back to China, it added.

A ministerial-level meeting on joint efforts to combat telecom and online fraud was held on Nov 14 with officials from China, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. Following the meeting, the six countries stepped up law enforcement cooperation, launched joint crackdowns, raided fraud compounds and intensified efforts to capture suspects, the ministry said.

The repatriation operation marks another major achievement in implementing the outcomes of that meeting, the ministry said.

Since the ministry launched a special campaign in July 2023 targeting crimes against Chinese citizens in northern Myanmar, Chinese and Myanmar police have apprehended more than 57,000 Chinese suspects through law enforcement cooperation and coordinated crackdowns as of October.

Authorities said the campaign has dealt a devastating blow to the four major family-based criminal groups in Kokang, northern Myanmar. All related cases have entered judicial proceedings, with public prosecutions initiated against the Wei and Liu family crime groups.

In September 2025, the Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court in Guangdong province sentenced five defendants from the Bai family crime group to death for crimes including telecom fraud. During the same month, the Wenzhou Intermediate People's Court in Zhejiang province sentenced 11 principal offenders from the Ming family crime group, including Ming Guoping and Ming Zhenzhen, to death in first-instance judgments.

yangzekun@chinadaily.com.cn