Ant-breeding scam earns 3b yuan ... and death penalty

A man who launched a fake ant-breeding business promising investors tempting returns has been sentenced to death for swindling his mostly poor victims of 3 billion yuan.

Wang Zhendong and his staff would sell a bagful of ants worth 200 yuan to investors in return for 10,000 yuan, and ask them to breed the creatures and return in 37 days' time. He promised them a return on their investment of up to 60 per cent.

He marketed his firm, Donghua Trading - which had been granted a business licence - as 'a private bio-hi-tech enterprise' with a core business in wine and medicine, and beverages made from mature ants. In traditional Chinese medicine, black ants are steeped in tea or soaked in liquor as a natural remedy for ailments such as arthritis.

Having started out in his northeastern home town of Yingkou , Liaoning province , in 2002, Wang's ant-breeding business spread to 13 neighbouring cities over the next three years.

Lured by lavish newspaper and TV advertising and the promise of a quick profit, more than 10,000 people, most of them poor villagers or laid-off urban workers, poured their savings into the scheme. Some even borrowed to invest in it.

Dong Bingyou , a laid-off worker from Fushun , invested 100,000 yuan. 'It looked like a big company with a good reputation and deep pockets. Mr Wang was a local celebrity,' Mr Dong was quoted by the People's Daily as saying.