A Chinese court on Monday sentenced to death 16 members of the Ming Family criminal syndicate from Kokang in Myanmar’s northern Shan State near the Chinese border, for multiple crimes including establishing scam centers and killing 14 Chinese nationals, according to Chinese media.
The Wenzhou Intermediate People’s Court in east China’s Zhejiang Province declared the 39 members of the family-run syndicate guilty of 14 offenses including fraud, intentional killing and intentional injury.
The court handed down a mix of penalties: 11 defendants were sentenced to death, five received death sentences with a two‑year reprieve, 11 were given life imprisonment, and the remaining individuals received fixed terms ranging from five to 24 years. Several convicted persons were also fined, had properties confiscated or were ordered deported.
Prosecutors alleged that starting in 2015 the Ming family used its influence in Myanmar’s Kokang region to build an armed faction, establish multiple scam compounds or “parks,” and collude with other gangs that provided funding and armed support.
The syndicate’s activities reportedly included telecom fraud, casino and online gambling operations, drug trafficking and organized prostitution, with total proceeds from gambling and fraud exceeding 10 billion yuan (US$1.4 billion).
It is believed that central to the trial was Crouching Tiger Villa, a telecom scam compound in Kokang owned by Ming Xuechang, the Ming family’s patriarch. Guards at the compound opened fire on workers as they attempted to flee on Oct. 20, 2023. Among the casualties were Chinese nationals who were allegedly undercover Chinese security officers. The Irrawaddy could not independently verify those reports.
Among those sentenced to death were family members including Ming Xuechang’s son Ming Xiaoping (also known as Ming Guoping) and his granddaughter Ming Zhenzhen. Not included on the list of those sentenced to death was Ming Xuechang’s daughter, Ming Julan. Initial reports said she had been among those arrested and handed to China, but a later junta announcement of the handover made no mention of her.
Ming Xuechang and his family members were arrested by the regime in November 2023, amid pressure from China to impose a crackdown on online scam syndicates in Kokang—a border enclave adjoining China in northern Shan State, notorious as a hub for Chinese‑run telecom scams that rely on trafficked workers and armed protection.
The regime later reported that Ming Xuechang shot himself during his arrest and died later while receiving treatment. Other suspects were handed over to Chinese authorities. Ming Xuechang, 69, was a former member of the Kokang Self-Administered Zone and once represented the regime’s proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) in the Shan State parliament. The Ming family worked for one of the four clans who ran Laukkai, which was seized by the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army in 2024 during Operation 1027.
China’s Ministry of Public Security said Chinese police had solved 1.74 million telecom fraud cases during the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021–25) period. The joint operations dismantled more than 2,000 overseas fraud centers and led to the capture of over 80,000 suspects.
