A total of 230 members of Shanxinhui, a Shenzhen-based company suspected of organizing and leading a pyramid scheme, have been arrested in southern China's Guangdong Province, police said Sunday.
Of the 230 members, 142 have been detained to face criminal charges. Fifty-five companies involved in the case have been investigated, the public security department of Guangdong province said in a statement.
Beijing police have also detained 63 people after members of the pyramid scheme gathered in the capital city Monday. Four others were put under non-criminal detention.
Chinese police have previously investigated Shanxinhui for allegedly manipulating people into taking part in pyramid selling and cheating them out of huge amounts of property under the guise of helping the poor.
Zhang Tianming, legal representative of the company, and other suspects have been put under coercive measures, which may include summons by force, bail, residential surveillance, detention or arrest.
