EVERYONE knew about the murder and subsequent stand-off with Tianjin police, but most investors had thought the patriarch of China's richest village, Daqiuzhuang, was untouchable.
Mr Yu Zuomin, 63, had been a long-standing member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and was rumoured to have good relations with the family of senior leader Deng Xiaoping.
It was even said that Mr Yu would regularly have dinner with Mr Deng when he was in Beijing.
So when Mr Yu's arrest for shielding criminals and obstructing police in their line of duty was announced in the official media last week, the effect on the Tianjin black market stock exchange was dramatic.
Internal shares issued by Daqiuzhuang companies crashed in just one day from a high of 5.8 yuan a share to just 0.4 yuan.
One investor who had bought 10,000 shares in the Wanquan Shareholding Co at 2.4 yuan a share said: ''It's a disaster. I lost 20,000 yuan [about HK$27,120 at official rates].