BANGKOK: A court in China sentenced 11 people to death on Monday for their roles in a family-run crime syndicate accused of running illegal gambling and scam operations worth more than $1.4 billion and for the deaths of disobedient workers. The Wenzhou Intermediate People’s Court sentenced Ming Guoping, Ming Zhenzhen, Zhou Weichang — all members of a powerful family in Kokkang, Myanmar — to death along with eight others, according to a court statement.

They were one of four families who turned a Myanmar town into a hub for gambling, drugs and scam centres.

Another five people given suspended death sentences over alleged role in gang that operated scam centres and illegal gambling worth $1.4bn