BANGKOK: A court in China sentenced 11 people to death on Monday for their roles in a family-run crime syndicate accused of running illegal gambling and scam operations worth more than $1.4 billion and for the deaths of disobedient workers.
The Wenzhou Intermediate People’s Court sentenced Ming Guoping, Ming Zhenzhen, Zhou Weichang — all members of a powerful family in Kokkang, Myanmar — to death along with eight others, according to a court statement.
The court also handed death sentences suspended for two years to five others, while a further 12 defendants received jail sentences of between five and 24 years. Two-year suspended death sentences are often converted to life in prison.
The sentences came shortly after China on Sunday separately sentenced former Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Tang Renjian to death with reprieve for taking bribes. Tang took bribes of more than 268 million yuan ($38 million) in cash and property between 2007 and 2024, according to a statement by the Intermediate People’s Court of Changchun in the northeastern Jilin province.
China issued arrest warrants for members of the Ming family in November 2023 on suspicion of fraud, murder and illegal detention as part of a crackdown on illegal scam operations near the border with Myanmar.
The syndicate’s crimes resulted in the deaths of 10 workers and injuries to two others who tried to escape the scam centers it ran, the court statement said.
The centers, in which criminals run sophisticated online scams targeting people all over the world, have proliferated in countries in Southeast Asia, including Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia. They often use trafficked workers who are forced to conduct romance-based investment scams as part of a globalized industry that the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime estimates is worth $40 billion annually.
China is cracking down on scam centers in the region through joint operations or coordinating with local police forces. In February, China, Myanmar and Thailand exerted pressure on scam centers located along the Thai-Myanmar border, resulting in the release of more than 7,000 workers, most of whom were Chinese citizens.
China court sentences 11 members of Myanmar-based crime syndicate to death
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China court sentences 11 members of Myanmar-based crime syndicate to death
- The sentences came shortly after China on Sunday separately sentenced former Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Tang Renjian to death
- China issued arrest warrants for members of the Ming family in November 2023 on suspicion of fraud, murder and illegal detention
Norway launches probe of Middle East diplomat and husband over Epstein links
- Mona Juul resigned from her position as ambassador to Jordan and Iraq
- Juul and her husband Terje Rod-Larsen played key roles in the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations which led to the Oslo Accords
OSLO: Norwegian police said Monday they have launched an “aggravated corruption” investigation against a high-profile diplomat, Mona Juul, and her husband Terje Rod-Larsen, over the couple’s links to late US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The police economic crime unit Okokrim said in statement that the probe began last week and that an Oslo residence was searched on Monday, as well as a residence belonging to a witness.
“We have launched an investigation to determine whether any criminal offenses have been committed. We are facing a comprehensive and, by all accounts lengthy investigation,” Okokrim chief Pal Lonseth, said.
Juul, 66, and Rod-Larsen, 78, played key roles in the secret Israeli-Palestinian negotiations which led to the Oslo Accords of the early 1990s.
Epstein left $10 million in his will to the couple’s two children, according to Norwegian media.
“Among other things, Okokrim will investigate whether she received benefits in connection to her position,” the statement said.
On Sunday, the foreign ministry announced that Juul had resigned from her position as ambassador to Jordan and Iraq.
“Juul’s contact with the convicted abuser Epstein has shown a serious lapse in judgment,” Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said in connection to the announcement.
She had already been temporarily suspended last week pending an internal investigation by the ministry into her alleged links to Epstein, who died in 2019 while awaiting trial for sex trafficking.
Norway’s political and royal circles have been thrust into the eye of the Epstein storm, including the CEO of the World Economic Forum Borge Brende.
Former prime minister Thorbjorn Jagland, is also being investigated for “aggravated corruption” over links to Epstein while he was chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee — which awards the Nobel Peace Prize — and as secretary general of the Council of Europe.
Norway’s Crown Princess Mette-Marit has also come under scrutiny for her relationship with Epstein, which on Friday she said she “deeply regretted.”
On Monday, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store voiced support for the establishing of an independent commission set up by Parliament, to fully examine the nature of the ties between these figures and Epstein.
