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SCMP Economy55 minutes agoWorld1 min readChina

Singaporeans detained in China over MLM scams

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Singaporean officials confirmed the detention of 52 citizens in China linked to multilevel marketing scams, with consular officers visiting the detainees.

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Why It Matters

Multilevel marketing scams like the '1040 Sunshine' scheme have faced crackdowns in Guangxi since at least 2014.

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Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Singapore Police Force revealed the arrests in a joint statement on Friday, noting that Chinese authorities were still investigating the cases.

Sim Ann, Singapore’s second minister for foreign affairs, said consular officers from the country’s embassy in Beijing and its consulate in Guangzhou had visited all 52 detainees to check on their well-being, help with administrative matters and relay messages between the detainees and their families.

Sim, who is also the second minister for home affairs, has met relatives of most of the detainees to offer support during what she called an “understandably difficult time”.

While officials did not give details of the operations involved, multilevel marketing scams have repeatedly been targeted in police crackdowns in Guangxi.

These include the long-running “1040 Sunshine” scheme, which dupes people into paying 69,800 yuan (US$10,390) on the false promise of a 10.4 million yuan return. Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported on police crackdowns targeting the scam as early as 2014.

Open Questions

What specific charges do the detainees face?
When will the Chinese investigation conclude?

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