Police crack massive pyramid scheme

Nanning (CNS) -- Police in Nanning of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region have smashed a sprawling pyramid scheme involving several hundred million yuan, local authorities announced yesterday.

To date, over 400 bank accounts involved in the case have been investigated, 67 million yuan in capital has been frozen and 263 suspects have been apprehended, police said.

The case is rare in terms of the amount of money involved and the large number of suspects, who come from Anhui, Sichuan, Shandong and Gansu provinces.

Police said they filed the case and started the investigation on January 18 after uncovering key evidence.

The illegal organization persuaded thousands of people to join the scheme and earned money by requiring admission fees, police said. Little or no product of any real value was exchanged during the process.