17th January 2025 – (Shanghai) Amidst the recent surge in awareness surrounding Southeast Asian fraud schemes, a harrowing tale has emerged from Shanghai. Reports surfaced on Wednesday, the 15th of the month, unveiling a distressing narrative involving over 30 employees from a recently closed fitness centre. Allegedly, these individuals were deceived by their regional manager under the guise of a team-building trip to Thailand, only to find themselves ensnared in a suspected scam operation in Myanmar, their fate uncertain.
The revelation was made by an investment manager in Shanghai who disclosed that the embroiled fitness facility, known as Will’s Gym, located on Panyu Road, closed its doors recently. According to his account, a friend was considering taking over the establishment to open his own gym, but was informed that the store manager along with the staff, over thirty individuals, were recently “sold off like piglets” in Thailand. The informant lamented the resurgence of what he described as “modern-day slavery” amidst challenging economic times.
Additional reports from concerned netizens have further shed light on the irregularities surrounding the gym’s operations dating back to the latter half of the previous year. Online discussions and posts revealed instances of closures and suspensions of services across multiple districts in Shanghai including Changning, Pudong, and Xuhui. Sources have disclosed that the Panyu Road branch shuttered in August, following which the regional manager persuaded the store manager and staff to relocate to a shop in Shenzhen for a brief period. Subsequently, towards the year-end, they were allegedly rewarded with a trip to Thailand under the guise of a team-building exercise, only to find themselves exploited in what is now being referred to as a piglet-selling scheme.
Furthermore, distressing information emerged on 8th January in the form of a distress call from an employee claiming to be stranded in Myanmar’s Myawaddy.
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