MLM is suspected of illegal operation. Disrupting market order, if the circumstances are serious, shall be convicted and punished for the crime of illegal business operation. The reply clearly stipulates that pyramid schemes should be treated as illegal business operations. The crime of pyramid selling activities refers to the act of organizing and leading pyramid selling activities in the name of selling goods or providing services, requiring participants to obtain the qualification to join by paying fees or purchasing goods and services, and forming a hierarchy in a certain order, directly or indirectly taking the number of development people as the basis for reward or rebate, inducing and coercing participants to continue to develop others to participate, defrauding property and disrupting economic and social order.

legal ground

Article 225 of the Criminal Law of People's Republic of China (PRC), in violation of state regulations, commits one of the following illegal business operations, disrupting market order, and if the circumstances are serious, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than five years or criminal detention, and shall also, or shall only, be fined not less than one time but not more than five times the illegal income; If the circumstances are especially serious, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than five years, and shall also be fined not less than one time but not more than five times his illegal income or his property shall be confiscated: (1) dealing in franchise, monopoly goods or other commodities whose business is restricted by laws and administrative regulations without permission; (2) buying and selling import and export licenses, import and export certificates of origin and other business licenses or approval documents stipulated by laws and administrative regulations; (three) without the approval of the relevant competent departments of the state, illegally engaged in securities, futures, insurance business, or illegally engaged in fund payment and settlement business; (four) other illegal business activities that seriously disrupt the market order.