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One Chinese judicial body has handed down death sentences to five prominent figures of a well-known Myanmar mafia to execution as Beijing maintains its campaign on fraudulent activities in South East Asia.

Overall, 21 clan members and associates were found guilty of scams, homicide, assault and other offenses, reported a official document published on the judicial website.

The family is among a few of organized crime groups that rose to power in the last two decades and transformed the impoverished backwater town of the town into a profitable hub of casinos and red-light districts.

Over the past few years they shifted to fraudulent schemes in which numerous of smuggled people, many of them from China, are ensnared, abused and compelled to defraud others in criminal operations valued at billions of dollars.

Details of the Judgment

Syndicate leader Bai Suocheng and his heir the younger Bai were included in the group of figures condemned to death by the judicial body. Yang Liqiang, Hu Xiaojiang and A fourth person were the remaining punished.

Two members of the Bai family syndicate were handed suspended death sentences. Five were sentenced to permanent incarceration, while additional individuals were handed prison sentences between several years to two decades.

The clan, who controlled their own armed group, created forty-one compounds to house their digital scam schemes and gambling houses, officials said.

Extent of Criminal Activities

These unlawful enterprises included more than 29bn yuan ($4.1 billion; £3.1bn). They also resulted in the demise of six Chinese nationals, the self-inflicted death of one and several assaults, reports stated.

The harsh penalties delivered by the judicial body are part of the Chinese campaign to eradicate the large scam networks in South East Asia - and issue a strong message to additional illegal syndicates.

Context of the Families

These groups became dominant in the 2000s with the support of a military leader - who currently heads Myanmar's regime. He had intended to bolster associates in the town after replacing its previous ruler.

Within the groups, the Bais were "the most powerful", Bai Yingcang before informed official sources.

Back then, we was the leading in each of the government and armed arenas," he said in a documentary about the clan, shown on Chinese state media in July.

In the same documentary, a worker at a fraud facilities narrated the mistreatment he had suffered at the location: besides being beaten, he had his nails yanked out with pliers and two of his digits cut off with a tool.

Additional Accusations

Bai Yingcang is among those who were condemned to death this week. The individual has also been separately found guilty of conspiring to traffic and produce eleven tons of methamphetamine, state media reported.

End of the Groups

The families' end came in last year as political winds changed.

Over a long period Chinese authorities has urged the regime to limit fraudulent activities in the area.

Last year, the Chinese police released legal actions for the most prominent individuals of such clans.

The patriarch, the clan's leader, was included in the figures who were extradited to China from Myanmar in the beginning of the year.

For what reason is the authorities putting so much effort to target the clans?" a Chinese investigator stated in the summer documentary.

"It's to warn other people, regardless of who you are, where you are, as long as you engage in such terrible offenses against the Chinese people, you will pay the price."