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A Chinese court has handed down death sentences to several leading members of a well-known Burmese mafia to execution as Chinese authorities maintains its crackdown on scam operations in Southeast Asian region.

In all, 21 Bai family individuals and collaborators were sentenced of scams, murder, assault and additional crimes, said a state media report posted on the judicial portal.

The family is one of a handful of syndicates that gained influence in the last two decades and converted the poor isolated region of Laukkaing into a wealthy center of casinos and entertainment zones.

Recently they turned to scams in which many of illegally moved workers, many of them from China, are caught, mistreated and obligated to scam victims in illegal operations worth billions.

Information of the Sentencing

Syndicate leader Bai Suocheng and his son the younger Bai were included in the five individuals condemned to capital punishment by the Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court. Another individual, A third figure and Chen Guangyi were the additional sentenced.

Two figures of the clan syndicate were given suspended death sentences. Five were given to life in prison, while nine others were given prison terms between three to 20 years.

The clan, who led their own militia, established 41 compounds to host their cyberscam schemes and gambling houses, authorities reported.

Extent of Criminal Operations

Such criminal activities included more than twenty-nine billion Chinese yuan ($4.1 billion; over three billion pounds). They also resulted in the deaths of several Chinese citizens, the suicide of one and numerous harm, reports reported.

The severe sentences delivered by the judicial body are within the Chinese initiative to eliminate the large fraud rings in Southeast Asia - and deliver a stern signal to other criminal groups.

Background of the Families

These families became dominant in the recent decades with the help of a military leader - who now leads Myanmar's junta. He had intended to prop up associates in Laukkaing after replacing its former warlord.

Among the clans, the Bais were "the most powerful", Bai Yingcang earlier stated to official sources.

Back then, the clan was the dominant in both the political and military spheres," the individual remarked in a documentary about the Bai family, broadcast on Chinese state media in July.

During the documentary, a employee at one of fraud facilities recalled the harm he had experienced at the location: besides being assaulted, he had his nails extracted with tools and two of his fingers cut off with a tool.

More Accusations

Bai Yingcang is among those who were sentenced to execution this week. He has additionally been independently convicted of organizing to traffic and make a large quantity of methamphetamine, official sources stated.

Downfall of the Families

The families' downfall occurred in recent times as political winds changed.

Previously Beijing has pressed the Myanmar junta to limit fraudulent schemes in the area.

Last year, the authorities released arrest warrants for the leading figures of these families.

The patriarch, the clan's patriarch, was included in the figures who were transferred to China from the country in the beginning of the year.

"Why is the Chinese government putting so much effort to target the groups?" a official said in the summer documentary.

"It's to warn groups, regardless of who you are, your location, when you carry out these serious offenses affecting the nationals, you will be held accountable."