NANNING<\/span> \u2013 The door was shut, the curtains were drawn and everyone was told to put their phones away.<\/p>\n Charles (not his real name), a Singaporean in his 30s, was taken to the high-rise apartment one morning in 2024 by a friend for a \u201cbriefing\u201d on how he could get rich.<\/p>\n The four-bedroom unit was in Skyfame Byland, a sprawling 22-block waterfront condominium in Nanning, the capital of southern China\u2019s Guangxi region. Some blocks rise as high as 64 storeys, making the estate a prominent feature of the city\u2019s skyline.<\/p>\n \u201cThe first thing that struck me was how spacious it was, and how lucky the Singaporean who owned this unit must be. I was envious,\u201d he told The Straits Times.<\/p>\n Had the curtains been drawn open, he\u00a0might have been able to see panoramic views of a horseshoe bend in the Yong River, its silt-yellow waters snaking through the city. He described the apartment as comfortably furnished with a homely vibe, without the oversized chandeliers and gilded flourishes associated with ostentatious living.<\/p>\n More than 10 participants, mostly Singaporeans, piled into the living room, listening as promoters talked up Nanning\u2019s prospects during the morning session.\u00a0Their \u201chosts\u201d \u2013 one for each participant \u2013 kept close watch from the adjoining dining area.<\/p>\n All the promoters seemed to be Singaporean, Charles recalled. They looked respectable and spoke fluent English. One silver-haired man introduced himself as a doctor.<\/p>\n After lunch, the group was taken to another unit in the condominium, where the afternoon session revealed how the scheme worked: Pay a subscription fee to join, recruit others and be promised a handsome return.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI realised they were not investing in anything real. Whatever returns they promised were merely coming from later joiners,\u201d Charles said, describing what is essentially pyramid selling, banned in China since 1998.<\/p>\n \u201cI could tell by looking at the faces of other participants that some were confused, and others like me didn\u2019t buy the story. But even so,\u00a0bizarrely, nobody stood up and left.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s because there were more of them than us in the apartment. Our hosts hovered around us all the time. I felt slightly threatened,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Charles said being abroad heightened his sense of vulnerability. He felt caught in a legal no man\u2019s land.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are not in Singapore. I don\u2019t know where we can get help. I assume Singapore police can\u2019t reach into China to save us, and Chinese police can\u2019t catch the perpetrators once they go back to Singapore.\u201d<\/p>\n A view of Skyfame Byland, the Nanning condominium where some Singaporeans were given briefings of suspected pyramid schemes, overlooking Yong River.<\/p>\n ST PHOTO: YEW LUN TIAN<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Charles had been taken to the briefing by a long-lost friend \u2013 a primary school classmate he had not seen since they were 12. He and the others were allowed to leave after the full-day briefing ended in the evening.<\/p>\n After he left, Charles texted his classmate to say he was not interested.\u00a0He never heard from him again.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s sad that instead of looking out for each other overseas, we have to guard against our fellow Singaporeans,\u201d Charles said.<\/p>\n Had Charles not walked away, he\u00a0might have ended up poorer, not richer.<\/p>\n People who spoke to ST said they knew of others who had sunk tens of thousands of dollars, or even hundreds of thousands, into similar schemes and struggled to claw their money back.<\/p>\n On Sept 4, Singapore authorities revealed that\u00a052 Singaporeans had been arrested<\/span><\/a>\u00a0in Guangxi by local police\u00a0over their suspected involvement in pyramid schemes.<\/p>\n Investigations are ongoing. Several Singaporeans previously interviewed by ST said they were taken to condominiums such as Skyfame Byland<\/span><\/a> to attend recruitment sessions.<\/p>\n Launched in 2015, Skyfame Byland is part of the much larger Skyfame ASEAN Maker Town, a mixed-use development that was earmarked as a base for business, technological innovation and trade cooperation serving South-east Asian nations, but never fully took off. It is 15km from the city centre.<\/p>\n Known as China\u2019s gateway to ASEAN, Nanning has been hosting the China-ASEAN Expo (CAEXPO), a trade fair, annually since 2004. Singapore\u2019s ministers-of-state have attended the opening in previous years. The 2026 edition will take place on Sept 17.<\/p>\n<\/picture><\/div>