China’s Supreme People’s Court has launched a comprehensive judicial offensive against fraud schemes specifically targeting elderly and disabled citizens, emphasizing the protection of vulnerable populations as a paramount judicial priority. In a significant move on December 1, 2025, the nation’s highest judicial authority publicized six major fraud cases while directing courts across China to enhance safeguards for pension and subsistence allowance systems.
The court identified an alarming proliferation of sophisticated fraud operations spanning healthcare, retirement services, investment management, and consumer sectors. These criminal enterprises employ increasingly elaborate tactics that not only jeopardize citizens’ property security but also pose substantial threats to social stability.
One particularly egregious case involved convicted fraudster Ni, sentenced to ten years and three months imprisonment by Shanghai Pudong New District People’s Court on June 17, 2025. Ni masterminded a scheme that defrauded elderly victims of over 620,000 yuan ($87,670) through the sale of counterfeit anti-cancer health products. The criminal operation, initiated in September 2024, involved multiple collaborators who lured seniors with free meals and gifts before transporting them to rural venues where hired speakers made false claims about product efficacy against cancer and chronic diseases.
In another representative case, defendant Yang from Hubei province received a three-year prison sentence with five years probation in April 2025 for concealing his father-in-law’s death to illegally collect 120,000 yuan in pension payments.
The Supreme People’s Court emphasized that social insurance funds constitute critical national security assets and warned that fraudulent practices—including duplicate pension claims and improper disability benefit collections—undermine system integrity. The judiciary simultaneously called for severe punishment of offenders while promoting enhanced legal awareness among vulnerable groups, particularly regarding false health product advertising that preys on seniors’ health concerns and depletes retirement savings.
This judicial initiative reinforces China’s people-centered development approach and demonstrates the judiciary’s commitment to safeguarding public welfare through rigorous enforcement and systemic protection mechanisms.