13 sentenced for telecom fraud in C China

ZHENGZHOU — Thirteen people have been sentenced to prison terms for involvement in a telecom fraud case in Central China's Henan province, local authorities said.

The 13 people will receive prison terms ranging from three to 10.5 years, and will be fined between 30,000 to 110,000 yuan (about $4,700 to $17,300), said a district court in Sanmenxia.

More than 160 suspects were involved in the fraud case. The court will deliver verdicts for another 50 defendants soon.

The case surfaced after a man surnamed Li reported to police that he was a victim of suspected telecom fraud in March 2017. An investigation showed the criminals published fake stock information on a commodity trading platform and convinced victims to trade.

The criminals had obtained more than 2 million yuan in illegal gains from December 2016 to March 2017.