75 detained in central China pyramid scheme busts

Police in central China's Hunan Province have detained 75 suspects in 23 cases of pyramid selling this year, local authorities said Monday.

More than 20 million yuan ($3.24 million) in direct economic losses have been retrieved in the crackdown on 19 pyramid selling dens in Hengyang City this year, said Zhou Xuenong, head of the municipal public security bureau.

Those suspects included 24 who were involved in three deaths, said Zhou at a press conference. A man who was tricked into a pyramid scheme was beaten to death by scheme members when he tried to escape from the ring on Feb. 16. Another two men, who were illegally detained by pyramid selling rings, jumped to their death on March 10 and May 13 respectively when they tried to flee, he said.

Pyramid selling has been banned in China since 1998, but remains rampant in some regions.