China knows how to send a stern message and the word out of Beijing this week will reverberate across the region, particularly in Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos. Chen Zhi, the founder and chairman of Cambodia’s Prince Group and alleged mastermind of the country’s scam compound industry, just might be executed.

Authorities have beefed-up Chen’s charge sheet since his deportation in January from Cambodia to China, where he is facing prosecution – adding intentionally inflicting bodily injury.

If that causes death or severe injury especially through cruel means then under Chinese criminal law, it is punishable by a minimum jail term of 10 years and – ultimately – the death penalty.

The 38-year-old was also charged with copyright infringement and a previous count of concealing criminal proceeds was dropped, Chinese business magazine Caixin reported. That obviously pales against a possible death sentence, a penalty this journalist is opposed to, but Beijing has well flagged the risks.

On January 29, Xinhua announced that China had executed 11 members of the “Ming family criminal group” for crimes that included “intentional homicide, intentional injury, unlawful detention, fraud and [running a] casino establishment” through scam compounds in territories along the China-Myanmar border.

In Naypyidaw, the Myanmar military junta’s civil administration has followed suit and just approved amendments to its Anti-Online Scam Bill that confirms 10 years to life for the running of scam compounds and human trafficking networks, Agence France-Press reported.

The agency also confirmed that the death sentence can be administered for “violence, torture, unlawful arrest and detention, or cruel treatment against another person for the purpose of forcing them to commit online scams.”

Myanmar became synonymous with scam compounds after Chinese crime syndicates expanded their operations out of Cambodia and along Myanmar’s eastern border with Thailand, where small cities emerged around casino hubs in places like Shwe Kokko.

But word from the border has been consistent ever since early last year, when Thailand, with Chinese backing, launched a crackdown on the syndicates operating along its borders inside Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos.

Sources in Mae Sot on the Thai side of the border say organized crime groups, in league with militias aligned with the military in Myanmar, have cut and run inland and further south and are now re-establishing themselves in much smaller units, staffed by willingly, tech-savvy people.

“The civil war has ground into stalemate and there are elements aligned with the military who are getting involved with Chinese organized crime and running scams to make money,” a source with the opposition People’s Defense Force said.

“I just spent a few days at Three Pagodas Pass and scam centers were everywhere,” she said. “I just got back. It took 20-hours to reach Mae Sot.

“Scammers have set-up operations inside small hotels and apartments and there’s a lot of them… there’s no one big identifiable compound but they are easy to spot. There is a war going on and they just look so out of place. It’s not like Shwe Kokko,” she added. “But new buildings are going up.”

Three Pagodas Pass sits in the Tenasserim Hills on the border between Thailand and Myanmar and is controlled by the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA), which is aligned with the ruling junta but has rejected speculation of any involvement with the scam compounds.

They sit just inside the Myanmar border, and whoever controls the pass holds the advantage of the military high ground. The source added, “The DKBA is in charge and yes they are the controlling influence over scammers and what they’re doing now.”

With the collapse of Prince Bank and the seizure of almost $15 billion in assets by United States authorities, Chen remains the highest profile catch of this whole sorry saga.

Others have followed, including Li Xiong, former chairman of Huione Group, a Prince subsidiary, Hu Shi, apparently second to Chen at Prince, who has been arrested for falsifying documents, and Jinbei Group founder Liu Ren was also extradited from Cambodia.

The big question is, who’s next?