560 seized in China's pyramid schemes crackdown

Police on the Chinese mainland have seized 560 people involved in pyramid schemes during a special crackdown since the beginning of June, the Ministry of Public Security revealed Friday.

The ministry said it cracked 212 pyramid scheme cases and destroyed 1,625 dens for such illegal business during the crackdown.

The crackdown was jointly initiated by 12 departments including the ministry and the State Administration for Industry and Commerce.

In a latest case, police on the Chinese mainland and Taiwan have jointly detained 74 Taiwan people for organizing pyramid schemes and entrapping others into the illegal business.

Thirty-three suspects were seized in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region by local police and the other 41 were captured in Taiwan by the island's law enforcement authorities, the ministry said Friday.

Since the beginning of 2011, a pyramid selling ring invited Taiwan residents to Guangxi for travel, business surveys and housing investments and then influenced them to carry out pyramid sales on the mainland, according to a ministry statement.

The pyramid selling ring, with more than 1,000 members from Taiwan, arranged for them to live together and brainwashed them by giving various lectures, the statement said.

Police in Guangxi detected the pyramid selling activities in March and reported them to the Taiwan police authorities, according to the statement.

The ring was busted under the joint efforts of police from both sides several days ago, the statement said, without giving the exact date.

The ministry vowed to further cooperate with Taiwanese law enforcement authorities to crack down on pyramid schemes to ensure the interests of people on both sides.