Approximately 500 people have been taken into custody for their alleged involvement in a major telecom scam in China, according to Chinese media.
The reports put the figure at 482 of which 177 are from China, 286 from Taiwan, and 19 from Thailand and Myanmar, Xinhua reported citing the ministry of public security.
They are alleged to have siphoned off more than 73 million yuan ($11.5 million) in 510 cases of telecom fraud, all of which occurred in China, the Chinese government said.
The suspects worked throughout China and Taiwan, as well as in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia, Sri Lanka and Fiji.
The ministry launched the investigation in November 2011. Earlier in May, the ministry sent six groups of Chinese police officers to the six other countries to investigate.
The gang was busted Wednesday in coordination with the police forces of the six countries.
The accused, who were taken in on Wednesday, are said to have defrauded their Chinese victims of a total of 73 million yuan ($11.5 million), it said. The rest of the suspects are from Thailand and Myanmar.
"The group mainly squeezed money from individuals or companies by calling them in the name of police or procuratorial staff and threatening to accuse them of money-laundering crimes," said Liu Ancheng, deputy director of China's Criminal Investigation Bureau.
They asked the victims to transfer money into the gang's accounts and then told accomplices in Taiwan and Thailand to withdraw the money from local cash machines, Liu was quoted as saying.
The ringleaders were from Taiwan, Liu said.