97 telecom fraud suspects repatriated to China

Malaysian police repatriated 97 telecom fraud suspects, including 32 from Taiwan, to China, a media report said on Sunday.

The 97 arrived in south Guangzhou city around 8.00 p.m., shackled and wearing black hoods, People's Daily reported.

In late March, Malaysian and Chinese mainland police cooperated in an investigation into five transnational telecommunications fraud cases involving victims from across the mainland, and arrested a total of 117 Chinese suspects, including 65 from the mainland, 52 from Taiwan.

Among the 52 from Taiwan, 20 were transferred to Taiwan authorities by Malaysian police on April 15.

The Chinese government requested Malaysia to transfer the rest of the suspects to the mainland as all the victims of the fraud trap are mainland residents.

Kenyan police also deported 77 suspected telecom scammers in another two fraud syndicates, including 45 Taiwanese, to the Chinese mainland this month.

Victims included migrant workers, teachers, students and elderly people from the mainland, and some of them committed suicide after being cheated of a large sum of money, an official statement said.

In the past few years, police from the mainland and Taiwan have arrested more than 7,700 suspects.

--IANS

ksk