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Police bust pyramid selling involving 409 in Chongqing

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-07-14 08:00

CHONGQING: Police in central China's Chongqing Municipality have broken up a pyramid selling ring involving 409 people and detained more than 120, a local police officer said Monday.

"The ring, under the name of MDG International Science and Technology Group Co., LTD, was involved in the pyramid selling of so-called high-tech communication software 'my-cool'," said a spokesman with the Jiulongpo Police Station.

"Those who were trapped in the scam included people from different provinces across the country, such as Guangdong, Shaanxi, Zhejiang, Guizhou and Shanxi," he add.

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The spokesman said undercover officers had infiltrated the ring since early June. They have mapped the structure of the organization and identified the ringleaders.

Members of the ring were required to sell the company's products priced  from 330 yuan (48 US dollars) to 6,600 yuan.

More than 300 armed policemen broke into their conference room on Saturday and took away 409 people.

The spokesman said as of Monday, police had detained more than 120 suspects and given administrative warnings to 23 others. He said the others have been released.