129 Chinese telecom fraud suspects brought back from Armenia

BEIJING, Sept. 8 : Chinese police have brought 129 telecom fraud suspects back fromArmenia, the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) announced on Wednesday.

The suspects include 51 from the Chinese mainland and 78 from Taiwan. They aresuspected of involvement in fraud cases in over 10 provincial-level regions on the Chinesemainland.

Armenian law enforcement detected suspicious activity by the suspects this year andreported their findings to Chinese police.

The suspects were seized when local law enforcement raided six dens on Aug. 20, said theMPS, adding that a large amount of equipment including computers and smart phoneswere found on site.

The MPS dispatched a working team to Armenia to deal with the case on Aug. 26.

An investigation found that members of the Armenia-based syndicate had been falselypresenting themselves as law enforcement officials to cheat people on the Chinesemainland through telephone calls. They were found to have defrauded people in more than50 cases, conning them out of more than 7 million yuan (1.2 million U.S. dollars).

As all victims involved are on the Chinese mainland, the 129 suspects were brought back tothe mainland to facilitate further investigation and ensure justice, the MPS said.

The MPS has designated police from Guangdong Province to investigate the case.

Mainland police have also informed Taiwan authorities of the cases according to relevantagreements between the two sides.

Telecom fraud has caused serious harm, said the MPS, vowing to continue the fightagainst the scams.

Public Security Minister Guo Shengkun on Tuesday urged efforts to enhance publicawareness of such crimes and firmly curb telecom fraud to protect people’s legitimaterights and interests.