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One Chinese court has sentenced five top figures of a well-known Burmese mafia to death as Chinese authorities maintains its crackdown on scam networks in South East Asia.

In all, 21 Bai family members and associates were found guilty of scams, homicide, injury and additional crimes, said a official document posted on the judicial portal.

The family is among a small number of syndicates that gained influence in the 2000s and converted the impoverished remote area of the town into a lucrative base of casinos and entertainment zones.

Over the past few years they shifted to fraudulent schemes in which many of illegally moved people, many of them Chinese, are trapped, abused and obligated to cheat targets in criminal operations worth billions.

Information of the Sentencing

Syndicate head the patriarch and his heir Bai Yingcang were included in the group of figures given to capital punishment by the court in Shenzhen. Another individual, A third figure and A fourth person were the remaining punished.

A couple of individuals of the Bai family mafia were received delayed executions. Five were sentenced to life in prison, while nine others were handed jail terms ranging from a period of 3-20 years.

The clan, who led their own private army, established forty-one facilities to accommodate their online fraud operations and betting establishments, government stated.

Extent of Criminal Schemes

Such illegal activities involved exceeding 29bn local currency (over four billion dollars; £3.1bn). These activities also caused the deaths of several from China nationals, the self-inflicted death of one and several harm, state media stated.

The harsh punishments issued by the judicial body are part of China's effort to remove the vast fraud rings in South East Asia - and deliver a stern warning to other criminal organizations.

History of the Groups

Such groups became dominant in the recent decades with the assistance of a prominent figure - who is in charge of the country's junta. He had wanted to prop up partners in Laukkaing after ousting its former ruler.

Within the groups, the this family were "the most powerful", the son earlier told official sources.

Back then, our Bai family was the most powerful in both the government and armed arenas," he stated in a report about the Bai family, aired on national media in the summer.

Within that report, a employee at their illegal operations described the mistreatment he had suffered there: in addition to being hit, he had his nails yanked out with pliers and a couple of his digits amputated with a kitchen knife.

More Charges

The son is among those who were sentenced to death this week. He has additionally been independently found guilty of conspiring to traffic and make eleven tons of methamphetamine, state media stated.

Decline of the Families

The families' downfall happened in recent times as situations altered.

Over a long period Chinese authorities has urged the regime to control fraudulent operations in the area.

Recently, the authorities announced detention orders for the most prominent figures of these families.

Bai Suocheng, the clan's patriarch, was among the individuals who were transferred to China from Myanmar in the beginning of the year.

"Why is the state making such extensive work to pursue the groups?" a expert stated in the summer report.

"It's to warn groups, regardless of your identity, your location, as long as you carry out these serious offenses affecting the nationals, you will face consequences."