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A China's court has sentenced a group of leading figures of an infamous Burmese mafia to death as Chinese authorities maintains its crackdown on scam operations in Southeast Asian region.

In all, twenty-one Bai family members and associates were convicted of fraud, homicide, injury and other crimes, said a state media report posted on the court website.

The family is one of a small number of organized crime groups that rose to power in the early 2000s and transformed the impoverished remote area of Laukkaing into a profitable center of casinos and entertainment zones.

In recent years they turned to fraudulent schemes in which thousands of smuggled workers, a large number of them from China, are trapped, harmed and obligated to defraud targets in illegal operations worth huge sums.

Details of the Verdict

Syndicate leader Bai Suocheng and his heir the younger Bai were among the several individuals given to capital punishment by the judicial body. Yang Liqiang, Hu Xiaojiang and A fourth person were the other three convicted.

A couple of members of the Bai family syndicate were handed suspended death sentences. Several were condemned to life imprisonment, while nine others were given jail terms ranging from several years to two decades.

This family, who controlled their own private army, created forty-one bases to accommodate their online fraud operations and betting establishments, authorities reported.

Scale of Unlawful Operations

Such criminal activities entailed more than twenty-nine billion Chinese yuan ($4.1bn; £3.1bn). They also caused the demise of six from China nationals, the suicide of an individual and numerous injuries, state media stated.

The severe punishments handed down by the judicial body are a component of China's initiative to remove the extensive fraud networks in Southeast Asia - and send a strong message to additional illegal organizations.

History of the Clans

Such groups rose to power in the early 2000s with the assistance of Min Aung Hlaing - who currently heads Myanmar's junta. He had wanted to support associates in the town after replacing its previous warlord.

Within the families, the this family were "the top", Bai Yingcang before informed official sources.

During that period, our Bai family was the leading in both the government and military circles," the individual remarked in a film about the Bai family, shown on national media in July.

Within that film, a employee at a their scam centres described the abuse he had endured at the location: besides being beaten, he had his fingernails removed with tools and two of his digits severed with a kitchen knife.

More Allegations

Bai Yingcang is included in those who were given to execution this week. He has also been separately found guilty of planning to traffic and make 11 tonnes of methamphetamine, official sources announced.

Decline of the Clans

Their end occurred in recent times as political winds altered.

For years Beijing has pressed the regime to limit fraudulent activities in the area.

Last year, the authorities issued legal actions for the most prominent individuals of these clans.

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

"Why is the Chinese government putting such extensive work to go after the four families?" a Chinese investigator stated in the July report.

"It's to warn individuals, no matter who you are, your base, as long as you engage in such serious acts targeting the citizens, you will pay the price."