52 S’poreans arrested in China over suspected involvement in illegal pyramid scheme

The detainees were nabbed as part of a wider law enforcement operation against suspected pyramid selling activities and related offences in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in China.

PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO FILE

Published Sep 04, 2026, 01:30 PM

Updated Sep 04, 2026, 01:30 PM

Chinese authorities arrested 52 Singaporeans in Guangxi for suspected involvement in an illegal pyramid scheme amid a nationwide crackdown on such activities.

While Singapore's MFA is providing consular assistance to the detainees, the ministry emphasised respect for China's judicial process.

One major pyramid scheme notorious in Guangxi, known as the "1040 Sunshine Project", uses false promises and isolation tactics, with China tightening laws and penalties against these scams.

SINGAPORE - Chinese authorities in Guangxi province have arrested and detained 52 Singaporeans over their alleged involvement in pyramid scheme activities, in what could be the largest foreign detention of Singapore citizens to date.

The arrests were revealed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and the Singapore Police Force (SPF) in a joint statement on Sept 4.

According to MFA and SPF, the 52 detainees were nabbed as part of a wider law enforcement operation in Guangxi in southern China against suspected pyramid scheme activities and related offences.

Investigations by the Chinese authorities are ongoing, and the SPF has contacted its Chinese counterparts to seek more information.

Speaking to Singapore media at her ministry’s headquarters in Sherwood Road on Sept 4, Second Minister for Foreign Affairs Sim Ann said the Singapore embassy in Beijing and the Consulate-General in Guangzhou have made three visits to all 52 detainees to check on their well-being and provide consular assistance.

This includes conveying requests from those arrested, passing on messages from their families, and facilitating administrative matters.

In Singapore, MFA officers are in touch with the next-of-kin.

Sim, who is also Second Minister for Home Affairs, told the media that she has met the family members of most of the detainees.

“We are doing all we can to help them through an understandably difficult time,” Sim said.

“Even as we provide consular assistance to the affected Singaporeans, I would like to emphasise that the Singapore government does not interfere in the judicial process and investigations of other countries, just as we expect foreign governments to respect our laws and legal process,” she added.

“The Singapore government will continue to pay close attention to the case and stress that due process should be accorded to our citizens,” she said.

MFA and SPF did not provide more details about the case or the status of the investigations. It is not clear if other Chinese or foreign nationals were swept up in the Guangxi operation.

Typically, those suspected of criminal activity in China can be detained for up to 37 days before prosecutors decide whether to approve their arrest. Subsequently, investigations and evidence collection can take between two months and seven months.

Prosecutors will then review the case before it goes to court. Based on publicly available information, this review process could take anywhere from one month to several months.

The arrests of the Singaporeans in Guangxi, officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, come amid a heavy nationwide crackdown by the Chinese authorities against pyramid selling.

Between 2021 and 2025, China investigated more than 200,000 cases of pyramid schemes and direct selling violations, according to the State Administration for Market Regulation, which said in November 2025 that it would continue to severely clamp down on such activities.

Under Chinese criminal law, it is an offence to organise or lead pyramid scheme activities.

There are two penalty tiers. For base cases, the punishment is a fine and jail or detention for up to five years. For serious cases, which include schemes that cumulatively have 120 or more participants or involve funds exceeding 2.5 million yuan (S$470,000), the penalty is a fine and at least five years’ imprisonment.

In June 2025, China revised its public security laws to give police the legal grounds to issue administrative penalties, such as fines and short detentions, against rank-and-file participants of pyramid schemes, who were not usually prosecuted under criminal law.

These revisions took effect in January 2026.

To add even more legal teeth, China has since released draft amendments to existing regulations prohibiting pyramid selling. The amendments, if passed, will target online schemes for the first time. They will also introduce a financial fund monitoring system and significantly increase fines.

Meanwhile, there have been several high-profile enforcement operations against pyramid networks across multiple Chinese provinces and cities over the past two years.

Over several months in 2025, police in Chengdu in Sichuan province dismantled a major scheme involving more than 23 million yuan that targeted college students and fresh graduates.

In the northwestern city of Xi’an , police there arrested 130 people and raided more than 180 locations in June 2026. This came a few months after the city was designated by Shaanxi province as a provincial base for investigating and combating pyramid schemes.

While MFA and SPF did not specify what type of scheme the arrested Singaporeans were allegedly involved in, Guangxi is notorious for being the birthplace of what is known as the “1040 Sunshine Project”.

Operating under many other guises, such as “chain operation”, “capital operation”, the “Beibu Gulf Development Project”, and less flatteringly, the “Nanning investment scam”, versions of this scheme have been running for decades across China, and in some parts of South-east Asia.

Based on Chinese court judgements and reports of past cases reviewed by The Straits Times, the scheme can take many forms but has some defining traits.

First, recruits are often lured in by close friends and family, or under the false pretences, such as tourism, a high-paying job, and even romantic relationships.

They are then asked to pay an entry fee to join the scheme and persuaded to buy “investment shares” in a fictitious government-backed development or some other fake business venture, with the total upfront payment frequently being 69,800 yuan.

The false promise they are given is that by recruiting others, they will eventually net a payout of up to 10.4 million yuan, which is where the “1040” scheme gets its name.

Those in the scheme are often told that it is secret and exclusive. Another common tactic is for pyramid scheme groups to rent residential flats, where participants are kept isolated from outside influence and brainwashed through group activities and lectures on getting rich.

In their statement on Sept 4, MFA and SPF issued a reminder to Singaporeans who are travelling or residing overseas that they are subject to the laws of the country they are in.

Sim said: “On behalf of the police, I wish to reiterate that Singaporeans should exercise caution when considering business or investment schemes, whether overseas or local.

“This is especially so for schemes involving the recruitment of participants, upfront payment of large sums of money, or promises of unusually high returns.”

Kok Yufeng is a correspondent at The Straits Times covering China issues.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

这些被拘留者是在中国广西壮族自治区开展的打击涉嫌传销活动及相关犯罪的更广泛执法行动的一部分。

照片：联合早报档案

发布于2026年9月4日下午1:30

更新于2026年9月4日下午1:30

中国当局在广西逮捕了 52 名新加坡人，他们涉嫌参与非法传销活动，这是全国范围内打击此类活动的一部分。

新加坡外交部在向被拘留者提供领事协助的同时，强调尊重中国的司法程序。

广西臭名昭著的“1040阳光计划”利用虚假承诺和孤立手段进行大规模传销，中国正在加强对这类骗局的法律和处罚力度。

新加坡——中国广西当局逮捕并拘留了52名新加坡人，指控他们参与传销活动，这可能是迄今为止新加坡公民在外国被拘留的最大规模事件。

9月4日，外交部和新加坡警察部队在一份联合声明中公布了此次逮捕行动。

据外交部和新加坡警察部队称，这52名被拘留者是在中国南方广西开展的打击涉嫌传销活动及相关犯罪的更大规模执法行动中被抓获的。

中国当局的调查仍在进行中，新加坡警察部队已与中国方面联系，以获取更多信息。

9月4日，新加坡外交部第二部长沈颖在舍伍德路外交部总部接受新加坡媒体采访时表示，新加坡驻北京大使馆和驻广州总领事馆已三次探访全部52名被拘留者，以了解他们的健康状况并提供领事协助。

这包括传达被捕者的请求、传递其家人的信息以及协助处理行政事务。

在新加坡，外交部官员会与死者家属取得联系。

兼任内政部第二部长沈颖告诉媒体，她已经与大多数被拘留者的家属见面。

“我们正在尽一切努力帮助他们度过这段可以理解的艰难时期，”西姆说。

她补充说：“即便我们向受影响的新加坡公民提供领事协助，我也要强调，新加坡政府不会干涉其他国家的司法程序和调查，正如我们希望外国政府尊重我们的法律和法律程序一样。”

“新加坡政府将继续密切关注此案，并强调应给予公民正当程序，”她说。

外交部和新加坡警察部队没有提供更多关于此案或调查进展的细节。目前尚不清楚广西行动中是否还有其他中国公民或外国公民被牵连。

在中国，涉嫌犯罪人员通常可被拘留最多37天，之后检察官才会决定是否批准逮捕。随后，调查和证据收集可能需要两到七个月的时间。

检察官随后将对案件进行审查，之后才会提交法院审理。根据公开信息，这一审查过程可能需要一个月到几个月的时间。

新加坡人在广西（正式名称为广西壮族自治区）被捕之际，正值中国当局在全国范围内大力打击传销活动。

据国家市场监督管理总局统计，2021年至2025年间，中国调查了20多万起传销和直销违法案件。该局在2025年11月表示，将继续严厉打击此类活动。

根据中国刑法，组织、领导传销活动属于违法行为。

处罚分为两级。对于基本案件，处罚为罚款并处以最高五年监禁或拘留。对于严重案件，例如累计参与人数达120人或以上，或涉案资金超过250万元人民币（约合47万新元）的诈骗活动，处罚为罚款并处以至少五年监禁。

2025年6月，中国修订了公安法，赋予警方对传销组织中的普通参与者处以行政处罚（如罚款和短期拘留）的法律依据，而这些参与者通常不会受到刑事法律的制裁。

这些修订于 2026 年 1 月生效。

为了进一步加强法律效力，中国随后发布了禁止传销的现行法规修正案草案。如果该修正案获得通过，将首次把网络传销纳入监管范围。此外，修正案还将引入资金监管体系，并大幅提高罚款金额。

与此同时，过去两年中，中国多个省市开展了多起针对传销网络的高调执法行动。

2025 年的几个月里，四川省成都市警方破获了一起针对大学生和应届毕业生的重大诈骗案，涉案金额超过 2300 万元人民币。

2026年6月，陕西省西北城市西安警方逮捕了130人，并突击搜查了180多个地点。此前几个月，陕西省将西安市指定为省级打击传销的重点区域。

虽然外交部和新加坡警察部队没有具体说明被捕的新加坡人涉嫌参与了哪种类型的计划，但广西因是所谓的“1040阳光计划”的发源地而臭名昭著。

这种骗局以“连锁经营”、“资本经营”、“北部湾开发项目”以及不太好听的“南宁投资骗局”等多种名义在中国各地以及东南亚部分地区已经运作了几十年。

根据《海峡时报》审查的中国法院判决和过往案例报道，该方案可以采取多种形式，但具有一些显著特征。

首先，新兵往往是被亲朋好友引诱，或者被虚假借口所蒙蔽，例如旅游、高薪工作，甚至是恋爱关系。

然后，他们被要求支付入会费才能加入该计划，并被说服购买虚构的政府支持开发项目或其他虚假商业企业的“投资股份”，预付款总额通常为 69,800 元人民币。

他们得到的虚假承诺是，通过招募其他人，他们最终将获得高达 1040 万元人民币的收益，这就是“1040”骗局名称的由来。

参与此类骗局的人通常被告知，这是秘密且排外的。另一种常见的伎俩是，传销组织会租用住宅公寓，将参与者与外界隔绝，并通过集体活动和致富讲座对他们进行洗脑。

9月4日，外交部和新加坡警察部队发表声明，提醒在海外旅行或居住的新加坡公民，他们必须遵守所在国的法律。

沈先生说：“我谨代表警方重申，新加坡人在考虑商业或投资计划时，无论是在海外还是在本地，都应该谨慎行事。

“对于涉及招募参与者、预先支付大笔资金或承诺异常高回报的计划来说，尤其如此。”

郭宇峰是《海峡时报》负责报道中国问题的记者。

外交部