Singaporeans lured to join Nanning Ponzi scheme with free dinners, S$8 manicures, sprawling condos
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[SINGAPORE] When Alice (not her real name) arrived in Nanning, the capital of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, in March, she was impressed with the number of high-rise developments in the city.
The apartment the Singaporean public servant stayed in was about 2,000 square feet, with rent at S$500 each month.
Fellow Singaporeans there tried to convince her to live there – a sprawling development called Nanning Skyfame Asean Maker Town, where a full manicure service was S$8, Starbucks coffee was S$3 and a bowl of wonton noodles with 20 wontons cost S$2.
Except that when Alice, in her 30s, looked from the balcony, she saw low- and high-rise developments peppered across the city with little activity. Many looked to have been abandoned.
The city had promised much, and for the last 30 years, a number of investment schemes played into potential buyers’ fear of missing out.
Nanning had Foxconn, the factory that once employed 50,000 workers, where iPhones were produced.
But amid a US-China trade war that saw Apple AirPod manufacturer GoerTek move from China’s Shandong province to Vietnam in 2018, Foxconn did the same.
In 2024, it left Nanning. Developers of nearby skyscrapers built for Foxconn employees could not sell their stock. The vast Foxconn site was also left empty.
But Alice and other Singaporeans The Straits Times spoke to said they were sold on more promises by “recruiters”, who excitedly described the cheaper but more lavish lifestyle they would enjoy in an exciting city – the next Shenzhen, they were told.
There were significant plans for the region of more than 50 million people.
They include the Pan-Beibu Gulf Economic Zone launched in July 2006 to connect southern and south-western provinces in China with Asean and the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor (ILSTC), which allows goods to be moved from western China to Asean by road, rail, sea and, soon, river.
There is also the China-Singapore Nanning International Logistics Park, which was established in 2018.
It serves as a key node along the ILSTC passage, with a total planned investment of more than 10 billion yuan (US$1.5 billion) from Singapore shipping company Pacific International Lines and local partners.
But the lifestyle multi-level marketing sales pitch Alice and others received turned out to be a Ponzi scheme, a variant of the 1040 Sunshine Project that started in 1998. The scheme has seen many Chinese nationals convicted for their involvement in pyramid schemes.
It also resulted in the murder of a recruiter in Malaysia in 2016 over losses suffered by investors.
On Friday (Sep 4), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and the Singapore Police Force (SPF) revealed that 52 Singaporeans have been arrested by the Chinese authorities in Guangxi province over their alleged involvement in pyramid scheme activities.
They were nabbed as part of a wider law enforcement operation in Guangxi in southern China against suspected pyramid scheme activities and related offences.
Alice recalled that she had suspected it was all a scam when she looked around her.
“It was like an eerie ghost city. It looked like the construction of nearby blocks and units were halted halfway. The recruiters said there were neighbours, but other than the Singaporeans we were with, no one else was there,” she said.
Frank (not his real name) was in Nanning with his ex-colleague and his ex-colleague’s family in 2014.
He added: “They showed me a condo complex, which looked like a ghost town. They claimed the condo would be near an Asean village with pavilions representing Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia, and that this village will soon be a huge tourism spot.”
Like Alice, the retired engineer in his 60s did not throw in any money. None of the Singaporeans ST spoke with invested in the scheme.
Many others did, paying between S$26,000 and S$50,000 to enjoy the lifestyle.
The recruiters, also fellow Singaporeans, were never clear what the investment was for. Instead, they focused on how potential investors could recoup their money – by recruiting others.
They were told each new recruit – a close friend, parent, relative – was worth S$10,000.
Recruiting friends
Alice said the first surprise was when she boarded the plane to Nanning Wuxu International Airport. There were many Singaporeans on the flight, and they all appeared to be familiar with each other.
She had agreed to travel there on the behest of a close friend, who insisted she see up close an investment opportunity in Nanning, Guangxi.
Curious, Alice asked for more information.
But her friend of 10 years said: “You don’t need to ask so many questions. Just follow me along to Nanning.”
Red flags popped up immediately.
The friend said everything was covered other than the air ticket.
“I wanted to take a different flight from my friend, as I found a cheaper option. But she insisted we must take the same flight, and we must arrive at the same time,” said Alice, who ended up paying about S$900 for a round-trip ticket.
After they landed about four hours later, Alice was not allowed to go anywhere on her own.
Her friend introduced her to other Singaporeans at the airport, who welcomed her warmly and told her the tour of the city would start immediately.
Alice said: “Before we left the airport, my friend even asked me if I needed to use the toilet first because during the tour, they are not allowed to stop. She told me: ‘We cannot get out of the car at all.’”
As she toured the city in a luxury MPV, a guide showed her the older parts of Nanning before heading to more refurbished areas.
“They told me the plans they had for Nanning and asked me to be part of this growth. But when I asked more, they were secretive. They kept saying that I had to see for myself,” said Alice.
They then arrived at the condo complex later in the day. She was encouraged not go out and explore the city on her own, not even to shop, as there was “no time”.
“Everywhere I went, someone would follow me. Even when I needed to use the toilet, someone would accompany me. When I wanted to go shopping at a mall nearby, they didn’t allow me to,” she said.
Sales pitch
During her five-day trip, she was made to attend mandatory sales sessions by Singaporeans. This would take place in the living room of one of the condo units, which had CCTV cameras everywhere.
“The pitch was to join them in riding the China wave. They positioned it as a plan B for Singaporeans, convincing us that it was tough for us to make a living at home,” said Alice.
The recruiters claimed the scheme they were promoting, which did not have an official name, was government-backed and showed potential recruits like Alice and hundreds more news articles of annual talks between Singapore and China, she added.
On her second night, she attended a networking dinner with around 400 Singaporeans and Singapore permanent residents.
There, she spotted familiar faces, including several female social media influencers, their partners, and a former chief operating officer of a popular Singapore restaurant chain.
“Their presence gave me the impression that the programme was established and credible,” she said.
Alice added: “At first, I enjoyed myself. I felt so sucked in, and whatever they said started to make sense.
“But as recruiters started to provide sneaky methods on how to convince my loved ones or colleagues to join this scheme, I snapped out of it.”
One way was to leave a box of cookies from Nanning at the office pantry, the recruiters said. “When a colleague asks where it is from, tell them about this place, get them to come along with you,” they said.
On her last day there, Alice paid S$70 as a “promise fee” that she would invest S$26,000 into the scheme.
“I paid the money because I started to be fearful for my life. It was so cult-like, everyone there was so hypnotised, with some even saying this scheme got them out of poverty. I thought that if I didn’t pay, they wouldn’t let me leave,” she said.
Back home, Alice’s friend pestered her to pay the S$26,000, but she refused.
Rejected offer
Paul (not his real name), a businessman, shared a similar story. He was convinced by his Indonesian friend to travel to Nanning in 2017.
“I was skeptical at first, but she was a very close friend of mine so I gave her the benefit of doubt,” said the 63-year-old.
To entice Paul to pay S$18,000 to be part of what they marketed as an investment scheme, the recruiters paid for his accommodation and food in Nanning.
“The karaoke and the massage sessions were also paid for. So I knew something was fishy. The more you take, the more you feel guilty. That’s how they entice you to be a soldier in the scheme,” he said.
Because of his reluctance to fork out the S$18,000, Paul’s friend funded his entrance fee.
“I didn’t believe in it, but she wanted to embed me into the scheme. She believed I could sell. So my job was to recruit as many people as I could.
“In the end, I got four people I knew to Nanning and brought them around like a tour guide. But none of them joined. I had nothing to lose at that point,” he said.
But Paul later ceased his involvement in the scheme.
He said: “I did it at first not because I needed money, but because I was curious how it worked. But later I felt that something was not right. How can you enjoy something for free with no catch?”
The Singaporeans ST spoke with said the scheme may be embedded in Singapore.
Chow, a 47-year-old realtor, said he was approached by four people he knew from work who couched it as a way for him to meet successful Singaporeans to network. Another friend told him he could give property-related seminars in Nanning if he was not keen to invest money.
“The first time a friend attempted to recruit me was more than 10 years ago. More recently, two years ago, a contractor that I worked with tried to recruit me. This just shows how much of a long-running scam this is,” he added.
He said: “I’ve heard people put in S$500,000 in and were unable to get it back. Getting someone to replace you in this scheme is as hard as getting someone to replace you in your coffin.”
Marketing consultant and author Adrian Tan, 47, flew to Nanning in 2018 after his ex-colleague persuaded him that he could explore business opportunities there.
“I went in open-minded, but later became skeptical. For instance, they kept persuading us to invest, but there was no product to invest in,” said Tan, recalling that investment fees were between S$30,000 and S$50,000, depending on the membership tier.
During the trip, he said searched online for news of the scheme. Nothing incriminating came up.
He only realised it was a scam when he switched the search language to Mandarin and found multiple reports on this scheme.
Meanwhile, Frank said he met many Singaporeans and Malaysians in Nanning, many of whom were convinced to put in up to S$48,000 to invest in the condo complex and Asean village before they become big hits.
He added: “There was no agreement, no documentation. All they said was ‘Just trust us’.”
Dire warning
The scheme has seen recruiters rope in Malaysians, Indonesians, Taiwanese and Chinese nationals.
Between 2016 and 2017, at least 10 Chinese nationals approached the Malaysian Chinese Association Public Services and Complaints Department for help.
One Malaysian paid with her life. In 2016, a 32-year-old Malaysian woman was killed while having lunch with her children in Kuala Lumpur.
Malaysian police said then that her husband had admitted to running a Ponzi scheme in China and had recently returned to Malaysia after making massive profits.
The victim’s family denied her personal involvement in the scheme in Nanning, but investigators said her husband’s operations in Nanning may have sparked retaliation from investors who lost their money.
The 52 Singaporeans nabbed in Guangxi could be the largest foreign detention of Singapore citizens to date.
In their statement on Sep 4, MFA and SPF reminded Singaporeans travelling or residing overseas that they are subject to the laws of the country they are in.
Second Minister for Foreign Affairs Sim Ann reiterated 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, she said.
Investigations by the Chinese authorities are ongoing. THE STRAITS TIMES
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