SHENZHEN -- Police in South China's Shenzhen City have arrested 422 members of a tech company suspected of organizing and leading a pyramid scheme.

Police investigated the Shenzhen-based Yunchuangtong Tech Company for allegedly manipulating people into taking part in a pyramid scheme, cheating them out of huge amounts of property under the guise of selling cellphones and beverages.

Investigations showed that more than 7,000 investors in Guangdong, Hunan, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Inner Mongolia and other provinces or autonomous regions had been swindled out of around 50 million yuan ($7.5 million).

In June, Shenzhen police launched an operation against the company and its branch offices, detaining 422 suspects and seizing 1.1 million yuan in cash and 800 cellphones.