CHINESE COURT ANNOUNCES 1ST-INSTANCE TRIAL VERDICT OF MYANMAR-BASED XU FAQI CRIMINAL GANG; XU SENTENCED TO DEATH WITH TWO-YEAR REPRIEVE

February 16, 2026:

A court in Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality on January 30, 2026 publicly announced the first-instance verdict in a case involving the Myanmar-based criminal gang led by Xu Faqi, also known as Xu Laofa, sentencing Xu to death with a two-year reprieve, according to a release from the Chongqing No.5 Intermediate People's Court's official WeChat account. 
Among the criminals, Zhang Longlong was sentenced to life imprisonment, while Luo Yujun, Xi Kangqiang and Liu Shibing were sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment ranging from 25 to 14 years. The court also imposed additional penalties, including confiscation of property and fines, according to the release. 
The court found that since 2019, the criminal gang led by Xu, with Luo and others acting as armed core members, had leveraged Xu's influence in the Kokang region of Myanmar to collaborate with telecom fraud groups. The gang successively built and operated multiple fraud compounds to carry out telecom and online fraud, involving more than 1.1 billion yuan ($150 million) in illicit funds.
In October 2025, China's Ministry of Public Security (MPS) announced that authorities had successfully cracked a major transnational criminal case involving the notorious Myanmar-based Kokang gang leader Xu Faqi, who was brought to justice under the China-Myanmar law enforcement cooperation framework, as the Global Times previously reported. 
During the provision of armed protection for the fraud operations, the gang colluded with telecom fraud groups to intentionally injure fraud participants who refused to comply with management, resulting in one death and one minor injury, according to the court. 
According to the court, the defendants Xu Faqi, Zhang Longlong, Luo Yujun, Xi Kangqiang and Liu Shibing were convicted of six crimes, including fraud, intentional injury, and drug smuggling and trafficking.
Based on the facts, nature, circumstances and social harm of the crimes committed by each defendant, the court made the above rulings in accordance with the law, the release said. 
More than 20 people, including deputies to the people's congress, relatives of the defendants and members of the public, attended the sentencing hearing.