505 suspects arrested in transnational telecom scam

BEIJING - The last 23 suspects from the Chinese mainland arrived in Beijing in custody Thursday via a flight from Cambodia, marking the downfall of a transnational telecom fraud ring.

According to a statement released Thursday by the Ministry of Public Security, mainland and Taiwan's police, with the help of police forces from Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Sri Lanka, detained a total of 505 suspects believed to be connected with the ring.

Police became aware of the group after fraudsters who pretended to be employees of police departments, courts and a domestic cable service provider defrauded a Beijing resident for 1 million yuan ($160,000).

While offering no further details on their methods, the statement said the group operated out of the Chinese mainland, Taiwan and the above-mentioned six countries, while the illicit money was received in Taiwan.

The group's criminal activity spanned 30 Chinese provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions. The money involved amounted to more than 83 million yuan.

Of the 505 suspects, 436 came from Taiwan, 66 from the Chinese mainland and three from other countries, the statement said.

Liu Ancheng, head of the ministry's criminal investigation department, vowed to maintain a "high-voltage" crackdown on such crimes while warning citizens against providing bank account information to strangers.