S'pore celeb allegedly seen at suspected pyramid scheme meetings in China as part of organising team

Several people who flew to Nanning, China, to attend meetings of an alleged pyramid scheme said they had seen Singapore celebrities there.

One male celebrity appeared to be part of the team organising the welcome event for new recruits, they told Shin Min Daily News.

Shin Min did not name the celebrities.

Pyramid scheme

On Sep. 4, the Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said that 52 Singaporeans have been arrested and detained in Guangxi following China's law enforcement operation against suspected pyramid scheme activities and related offences.

Nanning is the capital of the Guangxi region.

Several Singaporeans invited to Nanning previously told the media they were introduced to a programme involving a business opportunity linked to the city's development.

They later suspected it was a pyramid scheme, but not before some had already invested thousands.

These participants claimed to have seen fellow Singaporeans conducting the meetings and presentations sharing more about the investment programme.

Singapore celebrity allegedly involved

According to Shin Min, two women who were invited on such an organised trip to Nanning claimed to have seen the same male Singapore celebrity there.

A woman, surnamed Zheng, said she saw him at one of the events.

She added that a member of the programme later shared photos from the trip, and some other Singapore celebrities were apparently photographed attending the events.

Another woman, surnamed Chen, said that when she travelled to Nanning for the programme in 2019, she was introduced to Singaporean businesspeople at a restaurant.

Among them was purportedly a male Singapore celebrity.

"Even though it was so long ago, I still remember it because someone specially introduced the man as a Singapore celebrity," Chen said.

As she was growing suspicious of the programme, Chen pretended that she did not have any money on her at the time.

But a friend offered to pay her membership fee first, and she went to the welcome event for new members.

She claimed that she saw the celebrity again at this event.

"From what I remember, he seemed to be part of the team in charge of the event," Chen said. "But I'm not very sure what his role was."

No response from the celebrity

Shin Min said they have reached out to the male celebrity but received no response.

According to them, his social media bio states that he is a retired Singapore entrepreneur.

Apart from posts about his workout routine, he also made several posts about his trips to China.

They include a video about Nanning posted in 2025, with a caption saying that Nanning is only a second-tier city in China.