54 suspects in transnational phone scam escorted home

Fifty-four Chinese mainlanders suspected of participating in a transnational phone scam were escorted home on a flight from Indonesia on Wednesday, the Ministry of Public Security said. The development came after 63 suspects, including 54 mainlanders and nine Taiwanese, were arrested on July 22 in Jakarta through the cooperation of Chinese and Indonesian police. The successful arrests have already led to the uncovering of nearly 100 cases of phone fraud on the Chinese mainland involving a total of 40 million yuan (6.47 million U.S. dollars), according to the ministry. An investigation was launched after Chinese police in May received reports that some suspects swindled money from people by pretending to be cable TV service employees or judicial personnel. The suspects reportedly claimed that the victims were suspected of criminal involvement and their money needed to be examined.