The latest of the gang of fugitive Trans-Siberian train robbers and rapists went on trial in Beijing, and his sentence will be announced after the upcoming May holiday, said Beijing Railway Transportation Intermediate Court Tuesday.

"It was a closed trial for the accused, Jia Xiaoming, who is charged with the crimes of rape and robbery," said an official, surnamed Zhou, from the research division of the railway court.

Zhou refused to reveal specific details of the case or comment further, as it would be "inappropriate to do so before the sentencing announcement."

"He was one of the principle members of the criminal group who gang-raped a passenger on the cross-border train in 1993 and robbed Chinese entrepreneurs in Moscow eight times. He stole a total of $9,000," said Ai Anjun from Beijing Railway Public Security Bureau, who was part of the investigative team into the crimes in the 1990s.

On June 25, 2011, Jia, 53, was arrested in Guilin, Guangxi Zhuang Automous Region after hiding out for over 18 years. Guilin police matched his picture with the arrest warrant list after receiving an anonymous tip. The tip alleged there was a suspicious unemployed man hanging around in the  Guilin neighborhood of Lu Di, who claimed he was a local man, but who spoke with a definite Beijing accent. 

Two months later, Jia was transferred to Beijing for further investigation. He said he could barely recognize parts of the city as everything was different, and bowed in the air to his parents, whom he was unable to contact during his years on the run.

Jia used a fake name to run several small businesses outside Beijing, including restaurants and a hair salon, according to Ai.

Jia was initially a legitimate entrepreneur traveling between China and Russia, but he fell into a criminal gang that targeted Chinese merchants in Russia, who were often carrying large amounts of cash. 

On March 10, 1993, Jia and four other gang members boarded the Trans-Siberian Express, which usually takes six days to travel from Beijing and Moscow. After seeing a pretty woman, surnamed Sun, on the train, Jia invited her to chat in his compartment. 

"After Sun felt uncomfortable about Jia's flirty language and behavior, she returned to her compartment. Jia chased her and raped her her there. Then, she was gang-raped by four other men over the course of the journey," said Ai.

Sun reported the rape to police after the train arrived in Moscow, as there were no police as the train entered Russian territory, and no passenger helped her after she was threatened by the gang.

Two months later, in one of the most violent incidents, four separate gangs targeted the train again, robbing over 20 passengers, attacking and injuring many others, and raping three women. 

In June 1993, Chinese and Russian police launched a cross-border investigation into the series of violent crimes. 

"We arrested about 68 criminals in 1993, and four gang leaders were sentenced to death in 1994," said Ai. Thirty-one were sentenced to life in jail, and the rest received sentences of 10 years.

The gang is thought to have numbered around 100, and most have been arrested now, said Ai, but he estimated there are still around 10 gangsters who remain on the run.

Liu Wenyi, a lawyer at Kangda Law Firm does not think Jia's sentence will be as heavy as the one he would have received had he been captured in the initial investigation.

"Now the courts are very cautious over the death penalty, but since Jia is accused of the serious crimes of rape and robbery, I think his sentence will definitely be over 20 years, or even life in prison," said Liu.

Jia is not the only member of the train-robbing gang to have been recently apprehended.

Zong Liyong, 47, hid out in Europe and was arrested last July in Beijing. No sentence has been passed down yet.

Shao Xun, 42, was caught last November in Shenzhen at a charity event and sentenced to 15 years for robbery at Beijing Railway Transportation Court in February .

"Those suspects could easily use false identities to hide out for many years, mainly because police techniques to track suspects on the run were undeveloped back then," said Ai.