Taiwanese suspected of telecom fraud handed over to mainland

TIANJIN -- Seventy-eight Taiwanese suspected of telecom fraud were escorted by mainland police from the Philippines to the North China city of Tianjin Wednesday morning.

They are suspected of conducting several hundred telecom fraud cases on the mainland involving more than 100 million yuan ($15.88 million), according to a statement from the Ministry of Public Security.

The suspects were part of a group of 151 detained in a joint police raid on an international criminal organization in the Philippines in January, the statement said.

The other 73 suspects, who are all mainlanders, were brought back to the mainland in February.

The suspects allegedly carried out the fraud by impersonating law enforcement and judicial officials, the statement said.

Some of the Taiwanese suspects were senior members of the fraud ring, the statement said.