97 suspected telecom fraudsters extradited from Malaysia to China

The Malaysian police on Saturday sent to Chinese mainland 97 suspected telecom fraudsters including 32 from Taiwan.

These suspects have been rounded up in late March for investigation into five telecom fraud cases affecting victims from across the mainland of China.

The Chinese authorities have requested the Malaysian side to send to China 32 suspects from Taiwan after 20 suspects have been transferred to Taiwan earlier this month.

Both sides across the Taiwan Strait have pledged to further cooperate in their crackdown on telecom fraud. The two sides reached such a consensus on April 20.

“We’ve lost no time in notifying the Taiwan police about the extradition of 32 Taiwanese suspected telecom fraudsters from Malaysia; we’ve also invited Taiwan police to send officers to the mainland to jointly investigate into the case, so as to crack it thoroughly and trace back the cheated money to reduce the public losses,” says Chen Shiqu, assistant inspector of the Criminal Investigation Department under the Chinese Ministry of Public Security.

The suspected telecom fraudsters will be prosecuted and tried in Zhuhai in the Guangdong Province and suspects from Taiwan will be prosecuted and tried in accordance with Chinese laws.

“We base our legal procedures on two considerations. First, conducting the investigation in Chinese mainland makes it easier; and second, to round up all suspects in one place facilitates the procedures and therefore enhance efficiency, in that telecom fraud bites into too many spheres,” says Lin Wei, a law professor from the China Youth University of Political Studies.

The telecom fraud cases have involved millions of yuan in cheated money and the victims are residents from over 20 provinces on the Chinese mainland.