BEIJING -- Chinese court has sentenced 4 key figures in cross-border telecom fraud cases to life in prison, the Supreme People's Court (SPC) said on Monday.

The four defendants all left China to form telecom fraud organizations, with one of them, surnamed Yu, organizing a number of people to go abroad to commit crimes, the SPC revealed when releasing a selection of illustrative cases.

In another case, a defendant surnamed Yang, who had been previously convicted for involvement in telecom fraud, was severely punished for reoffending, according to the SPC.

Two convicts in a separate case were found to have recruited minors for telecom scams. Despite their status as accomplices and their confessions to the offenses, they received harsh sentences, said the SPC.

Along with imposing harsh penalties, the courts ordered the criminals to return the money they had fraudulently obtained, and assured the victims they would receive confiscated funds in a prompt manner.