Prosecutors in north China's Tianjin Municipality on Sunday approved the arrests of 16 people involved in a pyramid scheme that used false advertising to cheat thousands out of their savings by selling health products.

The municipal procuratorate said the 16 suspects from Quanjian Nature Medicine Technology Development Co. Ltd., a Tianjin-based health product company, were accused of organizing and leading the scheme.

Chinese authorities launched a nationwide campaign to crack down on irregularities in the health product market after an investigation into the Quanjian case started in December 2018.

The campaign will last more than three months, the State Administration for Market Regulation said in a statement Thursday.