Fifty-two Singaporeans have been arrested by Chinese authorities in Guangxi province for alleged pyramid scheme activities after being lured to Nanning by recruiters promising cheap living, sprawling condominiums, and lucrative recruitment returns. The multi-level marketing scam, linked to a variant of the 1040 Sunshine Project, targeted investors with lifestyle pitches.
Arrests in Guangxi and the Multi-Level Marketing Pitch
On September 4, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Singapore Police Force revealed that 52 Singaporeans had been arrested by Chinese authorities in Guangxi province. The arrests occurred during a wider law enforcement operation targeting suspected pyramid scheme activities and related offences across southern China. According to Straits Times reporting, the scheme operated as a variant of the 1040 Sunshine Project, which originated in 1998 and has previously resulted in numerous convictions of Chinese nationals and even a 2016 murder in Malaysia tied to investor losses.
Victims and prospective participants were enticed by recruiters with descriptions of an exciting, lower-cost lifestyle resembling a future Shenzhen. Recruiters highlighted affordable local amenities, including $8 full manicures, $3 Starbucks coffee, and wonton noodles costing $2 for a bowl containing 20 wontons. Sprawling developments like the Nanning Skyfame ASEAN Maker Town were showcased to visitors, with residential rentals cited at $500 monthly for roughly 2,000 sq ft apartments. Many individuals paid between $26,000 and $50,000 to participate, while recruiters focused their pitches on bringing in others. As Straits Times noted, participants were told that each new recruit—such as a parent, relative, or close friend—was worth $10,000 in potential returns.
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Ghost Cities and Empty Economic Infrastructure
While recruiters sold a vision of bustling economic expansion backed by massive regional plans—including the Pan-Beibu Gulf Economic Zone launched in July 2006, the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor, and the China-Singapore Nanning International Logistics Park—visitors experienced a starkly different reality on the ground. Alice, a Singaporean public servant in her 30s who traveled to Nanning in March, observed that low- and high-rise developments across the city showed little activity and many appeared abandoned.
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Recalling her trip, Alice noted that the area resembled an eerie ghost city
where the construction of nearby blocks and units had been halted halfway. She added that aside from the Singaporeans in her travel group, no one else occupied the premises. Nanning previously hosted a massive Foxconn factory complex that employed 50,000 workers producing iPhones. However, following the US-China trade war and the 2018 relocation of Apple AirPod manufacturer GoerTek to Vietnam, Foxconn also departed Nanning in 2024, leaving the vast factory site empty and developers unable to sell stock in nearby skyscrapers built for its workforce.
The journey itself began with immediate warning signs for travelers who ultimately chose not to invest. Alice noticed numerous familiar-looking Singaporeans on her flight to Nanning Wuxu International Airport after agreeing to travel at the insistence of a 10-year friend who urged her to witness the opportunity firsthand without asking questions. When Alice requested a cheaper flight option separate from her friend, red flags immediately surfaced regarding the tight control exerted by organizers over travel arrangements where all expenses outside of airfare were supposedly covered.
