File photo: VCG

Several people, including Shu Yuhui, former chairman and founder of Tianjin-based drug company Quanjian Nature Medicine Technology Development Co, have been accused of allegedly organizing and leading pyramid scheme, the city's Wuqing District People's Procuratorate said on Thursday.

The company was also simultaneously prosecuted for the same charge, the procuratorate added on its website.

No more details about the prosecution, such as the exact number of the accused suspects, have been disclosed.

In January, Chinese media reported the prosecuting authority approved to arrest a total of 16 suspects, including Shu, for their alleged organization and leading pyramid scheme.

In March, the country's top political advisory body said Shu's membership in the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference National Committee had been revoked.

Tianjin public security authorities launched an investigation on Jan 1 into Quanjian's use of an alleged pyramid scheme and false advertising of a purported anti-cancer drug.

The case first aroused public attention in December last year, when a healthcare information sharing platform, Dingxiang Doctor, claimed in an article that the company made huge profits by misleading consumers.

The article cited Zhou Erli, who said his 7-year-old daughter Zhou Yang died in December 2015 after taking medicine from Quanjian that claimed to have an anti-cancer effect.