Rise in telecom fraud rings alarm bells

Legal differences

However, differences in judicial procedures between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan resulted in a number of suspects being released immediately upon arrival in Taiwan, while others were given lenient sentences.

In August 2013, a man called Lin Minghao and 20 other leading members of a gang detained in Cambodia by the Beijing police were sent back to Taiwan. Two years later, they were detained again for alleged involvement in telecom frauds in Indonesia, Cambodia and Australia.

However, while people convicted of telecom fraud in the Chinese mainland can face a life sentence, the maximum sentence in Taiwan is just five years, according to FanChongyi, a professor of law at the China University of Political Science and Law in Beijing.

At present, Taiwan's criminal law has no specific provisions to target telecom fraud, he said, adding that he hoped the legislation would soon be revised and strengthened.

Twenty of the suspects from Taiwan deported from Malaysia were handed over to the island's judicial authorities, but were released immediately. Officials in Taiwan defended the move, saying the evidence is not being held in Taiwan but is in the hands of the mainland police, and they will talk with their mainland counterparts about opening an investigation into the fraud.

Xu, a 37-year-old Taiwan resident who police only refer to by his surname, was repatriated from Kenya in April. He confessed that it is common knowledge among gang members that fraud suspects detained overseas are usually deported to Taiwan, where they will either be acquitted or given light sentences.

In 2010, Xu was sentenced to seven months in prison, but after his release he was recruited for the operation in Kenya in July 2014 while on a bogus business visit arranged by criminal gangs in Taiwan.

Xu, who is now being held in a detention center in the Haidian district of Beijing, said he would not have joined the gang in Kenya if he had known he would be deported to the mainland rather than Taiwan.

On May 13, Chen Wen-chi, head of a 12-strong delegation of senior officials from Taiwan's police and judiciary who visited suspects from Taiwan detained in the mainland, said officials in Taiwan will make concerted efforts with the mainland to recover the stolen funds.

Prosecutors and investigators with the delegation discussed the cases with their mainland counterparts in the hope of finding away to jointly examine the cases and guarantee the rights of the accused.

"Fifteen suspects have requested legal assistance and five have hired lawyers," said Li Hongping, deputy head of the Public Security Bureau in Zhuhai, Guangdong province, where 32 Taiwan residents are being detained.

Chen Shiqu, the Public Security Ministry inspector, said 77 suspected members of telecom fraud syndicates deported from Kenya will be tried on the mainland, and 32 suspects from Taiwan deported to the mainland from Malaysia have confessed to their crimes.

"The suspects specifically targeted people on the Chinese mainland. Their victims are from the mainland. They will be investigated and prosecuted in accordance with the laws of the mainland," he said.

Left: A delegation from Taiwan, led by Chen Wenchi(center), a crossStraits legal affairs official in the island, visits a house of detention in Beijing where 45 telecom fraud suspects from the island are being held. Chen Yehua / Xinhua Right: Police officers and student volunteers distribute publicity materials among residents of a community in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu province, to raise awareness of telecom fraud. Shi Yucheng / For China Daily