17 Chinese in Cambodia convicted of telephone fraud

PHNOM PENH - The Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Monday convicted 17 Chinese nationals of international extortion ring, according to a verdict by presiding judge Y Thavrak.

The 17 convicts, including 16 men from China's Taiwan and one woman from the Chinese mainland, were arrested during a raid in Phnom Penh in mid-November last year.

"The court decided to sentence each of them to four years in jail, but required to spend only five months and 15 days in jail, with the rest being served on probation," the verdict said.

It means that the convicts will be released from the prison in a couple of days.

The verdict also ordered the Intelligence Unit of the National Police to deport them from Cambodia soon after their release.

Last week, Cambodian authorities also arrested 60 Chinese nationals in separate locations in Phnom Penh and Kampong Cham province. They were suspicious of engaging in a similar extortion ring, which involved telephone calls made over the Internet to people in China.