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One Chinese judicial body has condemned a group of leading individuals of a well-known Burmese mafia to death as Beijing maintains its efforts on fraudulent operations in South East Asia.

Overall, 21 Bai family individuals and collaborators were convicted of fraud, murder, injury and various crimes, stated a official document released on the court website.

This clan is one of a few of mafias that became dominant in the last two decades and transformed the poor remote area of Laukkaing into a lucrative center of casinos and nightlife areas.

In recent years they shifted to scams in which thousands of smuggled people, several of them from China, are caught, abused and obligated to scam others in unlawful operations valued at billions.

Specifics of the Verdict

Mafia leader the patriarch and his heir the younger Bai were included in the several individuals condemned to capital punishment by the Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court. Yang Liqiang, Hu Xiaojiang and A fourth person were the remaining sentenced.

Two individuals of the clan syndicate were given suspended death sentences. Five were given to life in prison, while additional individuals were given prison terms between a period of 3-20 years.

The clan, who led their own private army, set up forty-one bases to house their cyberscam operations and betting establishments, government reported.

Magnitude of Illegal Schemes

Such illegal enterprises entailed over twenty-nine billion yuan (over four billion dollars; £3.1 billion). They also led to the deaths of six from China citizens, the self-inflicted death of an individual and multiple injuries, official sources announced.

The harsh penalties handed down by the court are within China's initiative to remove the extensive fraud operations in South East Asia - and send a stern signal to other unlawful organizations.

History of the Families

Such families became dominant in the recent decades with the help of a military leader - who now leads the country's military government. The leader had intended to support associates in Laukkaing after removing its former ruler.

Among the groups, the this family were "the top", the son earlier told official sources.

"At that time, the clan was the leading in both the government and military arenas," he remarked in a documentary about the Bai family, shown on Chinese state media in July.

During the film, a worker at one of their scam centres narrated the harm he had endured at the location: in addition to being hit, he had his fingernails removed with pliers and a couple of his digits cut off with a blade.

Additional Allegations

Bai Yingcang is among those who were given to death in the latest ruling. The individual has also been independently convicted of conspiring to traffic and manufacture eleven tons of illegal drugs, reports stated.

Decline of the Groups

Their downfall came in recent times as situations shifted.

For years Chinese authorities has urged the local government to limit scam schemes in the area.

Last year, the authorities released legal actions for the leading figures of these families.

Bai Suocheng, the Bai family's leader, was among the individuals who were transferred to China from the country in recent months.

"Why is the authorities putting significant resources to target the clans?" a Chinese investigator stated in the summer film.

"It's to warn individuals, no matter your position, your location, as long as you carry out such serious crimes affecting the nationals, you will face consequences."