Ants Lead to Man's Death

Okay, maybe the title is a little misleading. Ants did not directly result in a Chinese man's death, but were part of the scheme that led to the ruling of his death sentence.

The Chinese business executive, Wang Zhendong, was sentenced to death for swindling $385 million from investors in a fake ant-breeding scheme, a court official said Thursday. Zhedong served as chairman of the Yingkou Donghua Trading Group Company and had promised returns of up to 60 percent for buying kits of ants and breeding equipment from two companies he set up. Ants are often used in Chinese traditional medicine remedies. Between 2002 and 2005, Mr. Zhedong drew more than 10,000 investors into his company.

This article was interesting because I was not aware of China's capitol punishment policies. The article states that death is usually reserved for violent criminals in the country, but it is also issued in crimes involving large sums of money or ones that are deemed to have a "pernicious social impact." This does not surprise me; China's number one priority seems to be its economy and is yet the source of such social unrest in the country. Fake investments and pyramid investment schemes are becoming quite common in China as the country tries to transition from a planned economy to a free market. Many people probably do not realize the strategies, planning, and loopholes involved in such schemes.