China sentences 3 people to death for running scam centers

A Chinese court sentenced three members of a criminal gang to death on Tuesday for operating a network of brutal scam centers in Myanmar's Kokang region on the border with China, while jailing dozens more. China has stepped up cooperation with Southeast Asian nations to crack down on a vast industry that has flourished in the region in recent years to fleece people out of billions of dollars. Those conducting the online scams are sometimes willing con artists, and other times trafficked foreign nationals -- many Chinese -- tricked themselves into work and held in prison-like compounds. Quanzhou Intermediate People's Court said in a statement on Tuesday that it had sentenced Wei Huairen, Chen Dawei, and Liao Jingfang to death for their involvement in the "Wei family criminal gang." The gang was involved in crimes including drug trafficking, organizing prostitution, operating illegal casinos, telecommunications fraud, and the murder of at least two Chinese citizens, the court said. Wei Huairen was identified as one of the group's leaders and found guilty of several crimes including murder, the court said. The gang's operations netted more than 12.2 billion yuan ($1.8 billion). Anothe...