91 sentenced over telephone fraud

A Beijing judge sentenced 91 people on Sunday for their involvement in a multinational telephone scam that targeted elderly Chinese.

The trial is the first following a joint crackdown by police in China and Southeast Asia, including Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia.

Prosecutors said the defendants were part of a gang working out of Indonesia that posed as court and police officials to dupe Chinese victims.

"These convicts have damaged the image of (China's) judicial bodies ... by posing as government workers to commit fraud," said Jia Liying, the presiding judge at Chaoyang District People's Court.

Their sentences ranged from 18 months to eight years in prison, along with fines of 2,000 to 8,000 yuan ($320 to $1,285).

According to the court, the defendants, who were all arrested in Indonesia in June 2011, are poorly educated and come from the Chinese mainland, including Sichuan, Hainan, Hunan and Fujian provinces. Fifty-nine of the 91 defendants are women, and the youngest is 20 years old.

Sunday's verdict closed part of a case that involved almost 600 suspects, including 186 from the Chinese mainland, who were arrested across Southeast Asia.

The defendants were divided into seven groups to be sentenced in line with their level of involvement.

Peng Farong, a 29-year-old farmer from Fujian, received the heaviest penalty, eight years in prison and an 8,000 yuan fine.

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