Mass Arrests in Myanmar as Scam Gang Crackdown Heads to Court

More than 57,000 Chinese nationals have been arrested in Myanmar amid a mass crackdown on gangs running telecoms fraud operations, frequently staffed by victims of trafficking. China’s Ministry of Public Security announced the arrests on Wednesday and said they were carried ...

Cambodia’s Prince Group, Target of U.S. and UK Sanctions

U.S. and UK authorities unveiled sanctions this week against Chen Zhi, a British-Cambodian tycoon accused of running cyberscam operations where workers, some trafficked, carry out transnational fraud schemes that have netted billions of dollars. AFP takes a look at the man, ...

China Sentences 16 Myanmar-Linked Gang Members to Death

A Chinese court sentenced to death on Monday 16 members of a family-run criminal gang that established deadly scam centers in Myanmar's Kokang region on the border with China, among other crimes. Scam compounds have flourished in Myanmar's lawless borderlands, staffed ...

S.Africa Court Jails 7 Chinese Nationals for Human Trafficking

A South African court sentenced seven Chinese nationals to 20 years in prison Wednesday for forcing more than 90 Malawians, some as young as 14, to work in a Johannesburg sweatshop. Africa's most industrialised nation is a magnet for undocumented migrants ...

Nigeria Deports Wanted Chinese Gang Leader

Nigeria's police service said Sunday it had extradited a Chinese gang leader wanted in his home country for organized violent crime, in an operation conducted with Interpol. A police statement said "high-profile fugitive", Dai Qisheng was sent to China on August ...

Analysis from Cobus van Staden

How to Lure Chinese Financing Back to the Global South: Report

Global South countries face increasing financing pressure, endangering their ability to keep developing while also implementing measures to deal with a growing climate crisis. The disruption of global trade is coupled with a larger megatrend: flows of international capital to the developing world have turned negative. This means that countries are now routinely paying more to service loans than they receive in disbursements.

The vast majority of Global South borrowers ...

Nigeria Deports 60 Chinese, 39 Filipino Scammers

Nigeria has deported 102 foreigners including 60 Chinese nationals and 39 Filipinos convicted of "cyber-terrorism and internet fraud", its anti-corruption agency said Thursday. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had said in an earlier statement that 50 Chinese were among ...

Murder of Chinese Farm Owner in Zambia Shocks Nation, Sparks Unprecedented Outcry in China

In what has become one of the most widely followed cases of a Chinese citizen murdered in Africa to date, the killing of 57-year-old Chinese farm owner Ms. Shi in Zambia has sparked nationwide outrage and soul-searching across China. Unlike previous cases that circulated mainly within ...

Thai Police Arrest 26 Chinese Nationals Suspected of Illegal Loans

Thai police said they arrested 26 Chinese nationals on Saturday on suspicion they were running an illegal online loan operation. Officers raided a "luxury pool villa" in the resort town of Pattaya, about 100 kiolmetres (60 miles) south of Bangkok, and ...

Indonesia Elevates Security Concerns in ASEAN–China Talks

Indonesian Foreign Minister Sugiono’s recent remarks at the ASEAN–China Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Kuala Lumpur mark a welcome and necessary development in regional diplomacy. Amid long-standing discussions dominated by trade and economic cooperation, his decision to highlight transnational crime and maritime security brings long-overdue attention to issues ...

Thousands of Chinese Fraud Suspects Repatriated from Myanmar

Around 5,400 Chinese nationals have been apprehended and repatriated to China following a cross-border crackdown on telecom scamming operations in the Myanmarese region of Myawaddy. The operation was jointly conducted by Chinese, Myanmarese, and Thai forces and follows growing cross-border coordination ...

Putin Will Not Travel to BRICS Summit in Brazil Due to ICC Warrant: Kremlin

Vladimir Putin will not travel to Brazil for next month's BRICS summit due to the outstanding International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant on the Russian president, the Kremlin said Wednesday. Putin is wanted by the Hague-based ICC for the alleged illegal ...

Chinese Scam Syndicates Shift Base from Southeast Asia to Africa, Report Reveals

Chinese cybercrime networks are expanding operations into Africa as crackdowns intensify in Southeast Asia, according to a recent report from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). The agency describes the shift as part of a broader trend in which crime “spreads like ...
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