Virtual currency pyramid scheme busted in east China

File Photo taken on April 16, 2014 shows the operation instructions of a bitcoin ATM in east China's Shanghai. (Xinhua/Chen Fei)

NANJING, Nov. 22 (Xinhua) -- Police in China have busted a virtual currency-themed online pyramid scheme involving some 110,000 people and 1 billion yuan (about 156.4 million U.S. dollars).

In April, police in Suining, east China's Jiangsu Province, received a tip-off from a person who claimed to be trapped in the pyramid scheme operated by an investment platform called BBGO.

Investigation revealed that BBGO forged and spread information about non-existent plants and machines dedicated to virtual currency mining, coaxing over 110,000 investors into joining its pyramid scheme since 2019, using so-called high profits and rebates as bait, police said.

Five main suspects in the case have been arrested as the trial is under way. ■