A Taiwanese was sentenced to life in prison Tuesday for organizing gang crimes and defrauding 19 Taiwan people of more than 1 million U.S. dollars.

Fan Yu-lang, a native of Taiwan, was convicted of employing 42 people from the island and on the Chinese mainland to carry out defrauding activities, which cheated 19 Taiwan residents out of 1.16 million U.S. dollars in 2009, according the Intermediate People's Court of Dongguan City in Guangdong Province.

Also, 36 members of the gang received jail sentences of up to 13 years.

The rulings can be appealed.

Fan moved to Dongguan in June 2009. Under his directions, the gang members made phone calls to Taiwanese residents. They used fabricated identities and stories and blackmailed them to transfer their money to designated people or bank accounts, according to court investigations.

Gang members then took the money and transferred it to Fan's account.