BEIJING (CHINA) – In recent years, hundreds of Taiwanese suspected of telecom fraud have been deported to China and on Thursday a Beijing court sentenced 29 of them who were deported from Spain.
The fraudsters were sentenced to 14 years in jail, informed state media said. Taiwan has decried the deportations as an abuse of human rights. Over the years many Taiwanese, who were suspected to be fraudsters were sometimes forcibly deported from countries including Kenya, Cambodia and Armenia, according to the Taiwan government.
China has defended the deportations, saying they were suspected of defrauding Chinese people and so should be tried in Chinese courts.
In the latest judgement, a Beijing court ruled that the suspects had defrauded people living in China by calling them from their base in Spain, claiming to be Chinese law enforcement officials.
A total of 14 victims were defrauded out of more than 6.17 million yuan ($941,985), it said.
The fraud has spread overseas, with Chinese speakers recruited in Taiwan setting up operations in East Africa or Southeast Asia.