In China in Shanghai, many people were shocked when they found that they would receive beef instead of money from the investment application. Four gang won $ 70 million (over £598 crore) for eight years. They claimed to run cattle farms and sell beef.
One woman, Wu, trusted the app after she saw their fantastic shop. Invested $ 14,000 (almost £12 lakh) for 12% annual return on investment. However, when she tried to withdraw her money, the app only offered beef or chance to sell them online.
The gang was arrested in November 2024 and accused of illegal fundraising. The owner of the application accused investors and said it was not his fault.
Gang leader, Zhang, denied to do something wrong. He claimed that the system was a new business idea. Zhang said he wanted to grow a company like other online companies by offering offers soon. But things were not planned.
“I copied those internet companies that subsidized customers in their early stage to expand the scope of the company and eventually end lists. I did not expect it to succeed so difficult,” said South morning post Zhang.
Approximately 10,000 people invested in this program, but 2,000 still did not get back their money, about 40 million yuan (more than 47 crore).
One man, a fan, invested 1 million yuan ( £1.18 crore) and he was told he would get beef instead of money.
He asked, “They said they could give me beef worth one million Juan. How can I accept it? How can I eat so much beef?”
Another man, Hu, invested 3 million yuan ( £3.5 crore) and also referred to friends. He was shocked when he said he would get beef.
“What can I do with all the beef meat? Should I sell it on a wet market? I don’t have a license for the sale of beef.” SCMP quoted him like he said.
Using fake videos
The police found that fraudsters showed false videos of foreign farms to gain confidence. In fact, beef came from local markets, not from abroad. New investments were used to repay the elderly.
“Although they could not achieve profits from the sale of beef, they sucked more funds from new investors to pay for the directors and interests of previous investors. In this way they operated the CON until their capital chain broke,” the officer told the media.
(Tagstotranslate) What is the return on investment
