China’s criminal justice system has, for the first time, put to death those who ran large-scale online scams. The executions took place in January 2026, when 11 members of the Ming crime clan were killed after having been convicted of operating global online scams (targeting victims around the world) from Myanmar.
State-controlled news outlets reported that the Ming family used an “industrial scale” of fraud schemes called the “pig butchering” scam. This is a long-term online scheme where victims are groomed over time through fake romantic relationships, until they are convinced to invest in fake cryptocurrency trading and e-commerce platforms.
An Eastern China court convicted the defendants of homicide; false imprisonment; causing serious bodily injury; fraud; and the operation of unauthorized casinos. Following their conviction, the defendants were granted permission to be executed by the Supreme People’s Court of Beijing, and the executions occurred this past week.
Chinese investigators estimated that the organized crime groups made tens of billions of dollars per year by scamming victims in China, Europe and North America.
Prior to establishing online fraud operations, the clan had reportedly profited from illicit activities including gambling and prostitution. They moved to online fraud during the COVID-19 pandemic, and in Myanmar they set up heavily guarded scam compounds and held trafficked and kidnapped individuals at gunpoint in order to force them to participate in scam operations under threat of violence.
Estimates indicate that hundreds of thousands of people have been trafficked into scam operations throughout Southeast Asia. Many of these victims were coerced into posing as either romantic partners or financial advisors; many of these victims had little to no opportunity for escape. These executions of the members of the Ming clan represent a significant shift in how China will handle cybercrime. For the first time, China has applied the death penalty to those who have organized large-scale online fraud, signifying that China will take a hard line on transnational scam networks. Chinese authorities stated that additional cases are already underway.
