Ant Breeding Scam: Con Man Gets Death Sentence

A man in China, Wang Zhendong, was sentenced to death for leading an ant breeding scam which conned people out of the equivalent of $387 million. The business claimed to make wine, tea, and medical elixirs using mature black ants. Bags of ants are sold in parts of China to be steeped in tea or soaked in liquor as natural remedies for various maladies, including arthritis.

More than 10,000 investors in the scam signed contracts and were promised impressive returns on their investment, according to CNN. Once the scam was identified and investigated, only a portion of the money from investors could be recovered. One investor killed himself because of the financial loss. In addition to the death sentence for the mastermind of the scam, 15 managers of the business received jail time and fines. Wang, who used the money to pay off personal debt and lend to others, eventually admitted to not knowing anything about raising ants.

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