Photo: VCG

China's Supreme People's Court released several typical telecom fraud cases and associated crimes on Monday. These illegal activities include organizing illegal border crossing and forming criminal groups engaged in telecom fraud. The main culprits in the exposed criminal cases were given the maximum sentence, according to China Central Television (CCTV). 

The latest judicial disclosures, including the fraud case concerning Huang and two accomplices, as well as the fraud and cross-border smuggling case led by Yu, revealed that four defendants traveled abroad to form a telecom fraud syndicate, all of whom were identified as key orchestrators. Yu also organized individuals to go abroad to participate in organized fraud operations. All received life sentences, the highest possible legal penalty, according to CCTV.

In the fraud case concerning Yang and two associates, Yang had previously served time for telecom fraud but reoffended upon release. Yang faced harsher sentencing due to repeated offenses.

In the case involving Shen and 14 accomplices in fraud and cross-border smuggling, the people's court escalated enforcement measure, seized illicit funds, along with restituted money, and swiftly returned to victims, fully recovering all verified financial losses, according to CCTV.

According to the report, in recent years, some fraud organizations used a variety of means to solicit and entice minors and students to engage in the commission of crimes, or to target minors and student in the commission of fraud.

Defendant Xiao and another individual systematically recruited and coerced minors into telecom fraud schemes. The court imposed strict penalties on those involved, ensuring accountability under the law, reinforcing legal safeguards for minors' welfare and protection.

In May 2023, Xiao and defendant Hong purchased four phone cards from 11-year-old Xu  and 13-year-old Yang. They then hired 15-year-old Liand Xu, 16, to use eight phones and the four phone cards to make fraudulent calls from several hotel rooms in East China's Fujian Province. Xiao and others made 1,524 fraudulent calls, defrauding five victims of 470,000 yuan ($64,818). Xiao and Hong each earned over 3,000 yuan from the scheme.

The people's court found that defendants Xiao and Hong, knowing others were committing telecom fraud, purchased phone cards from several minors and organized two minors to make fraudulent calls, constituting the crime of fraud. Although they were accomplices and confessed, their use of minors in the crime led to harsher punishment. Xiao was sentenced to five years and six months in prison with a 50,000 yuan fine, while Hong was sentenced to four years and six months in prison with a 20,000 yuan fine.

Besides, the CCTV report also revealed telecom fraud crimes targeting overseas students. Between November 2018 and May 2019, defendant Zhu used multiple social media accounts in Australia to post false information about exchanging Australian dollars, US dollars and other foreign currencies for yuan in student social media groups. He gained the victims' trust by falsely claiming to have made transfers and creating and sending fake transfer screenshots, defrauding 19 victims of 600,000 yuan in total.

Zhu was sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment and a fine of 100,000 yuan for fraud, and the stolen money seized in the case was returned to the victims.

The SPC stated that it will intensify efforts to crack down on telecom fraud and associated crimes, aiming to decisively curb the widespread occurrence of these offenses and protecting citizens' lives, assets, and legal rights.

Global Times