CHONGQING, May 28 (Xinhua) -- The Chongqing Higher People's Court on Thursday rejected the appeal of the Xu Faqi criminal group members to uphold the first-instance verdict pronounced on Jan. 30 this year.
The court also approved Xu's death sentence with a two-year reprieve.
The first-instance judgement for the syndicate members, delivered by the Fifth Intermediate People's Court of Chongqing Municipality, determined that the defendants' actions constituted six crimes, including fraud, intentional injury, and drug smuggling and trafficking.
In addition to the verdict of Xu, defendants Zhang Longlong, Luo Yujun, Xi Kangqiang and Liu Shibing were sentenced to terms ranging from life imprisonment to up to 25 years, along with additional penalties like property confiscation and fines.
Zhang, Xi and Liu appealed against the verdict, which was dismissed by the second-instance court. The court ruled that the first-instance verdict was based on sufficient, true evidence and legitimate procedures.
Investigations revealed that since 2019, the syndicate led by Xu had leveraged its influence in Kokang, northern Myanmar, to collaborate with telecom fraud groups. The group built multiple compounds and recruited large numbers of personnel to perpetrate telecom and online fraud targeting Chinese citizens, raking in illicit funds exceeding 1.1 billion yuan (about 161.2 million U.S. dollars).
They also colluded with telecom fraud groups to intentionally harm recalcitrant primary-level members of the syndicate, resulting in one death and one minor injury. Additionally, Xu also engaged in other group crimes, including drug smuggling and trafficking. ■
