On October 13, 2026, the Quanzhou Intermediate People’s Court of Fujian Province and the Nan’an City People’s Court publicly pronounced first-instance verdicts in a series of cases involving the Wei family criminal group.
The defendants Wei Huairen, Chen David and Liao Jingfang were sentenced to death; the defendants Wei Qingtao, Kang Min and Xiong Hengxing were sentenced to life imprisonment; the defendants Su Hongxiang, Deng Zida, Chen Longjiang and 55 other defendants were respectively sentenced to fixed terms of imprisonment ranging from 24 years to three years and three months, together with corresponding 附加刑 such as fines, confiscation of property and deportation.
Investigation and trial findings showed that, since 2019, the Wei Huairen crime group—headed by Wei Huairen and Wei Qingsong (handled in a separate case) as principal offenders and with trusted subordinates Chen Longjiang and the leaders of the armed force Cha Guicheng and Yan Longdi (all handled in separate cases) as key members—and the Henry crime group—headed by Wei Rong, Wei Qinghai (both handled in separate cases) and Wei Qingtao as principal offenders and with family member Su Hongxiang and trusted subordinate Deng Zida as key members—had exploited the Wei family’s influence in the Kokang region of Myanmar. They developed and relied on the armed force controlled by the Wei family, set up multiple criminal compounds in Laojie, Kokang, and recruited and attracted a number of “financiers” to move in, providing armed protection. Acting on their own or together with the “financiers,” they committed crimes including 电信网络诈骗, running casinos, extortion, organizing prostitution, drug trafficking and organizing the illegal crossing of national (border) boundaries, involving more than 12.2 billion yuan in gambling and fraud funds. The Wei family crime group also colluded with the telecom and online fraud gangs in the compounds to kill people involved in fraud who did not obey management, causing the deaths of two Chinese citizens. In addition, Wei family member David Chen used the armed force under his control to kill at will, causing the deaths of two Chinese citizens.
The Quanzhou Intermediate People’s Court and the Nan’an City People’s Court held that the defendants Wei Huairen, Wei Qingtao and others organized, led and participated in a criminal group to commit crimes, and their acts respectively constituted seven charges including intentional homicide and fraud. The court handed down the above sentences in accordance with the law based on the facts, nature and circumstances of each defendant’s crimes and the degree of harm to society.
People’s congress deputies, CPPCC members, family members of the parties concerned and members of the public from all walks of life sat in on the sentencing.