China ant-breeding project has sting in the tail

BEIJING (Reuters) - A company in northeast China raised $379 million from gullible members of the public by promising big profits from a project to breed ants, Xinhua news agency said Friday.

The Donghua Ecological Breeding Company, in Liaoning province, offered returns of 35 to 60 percent on investment in the bogus project, Xinhua said. The state agency cited the Public Security Ministry which had detailed the case as an example of how fraudsters were becoming more imaginative.

The report did not explain why the public would want to invest in ants but, in the southern region of Guangxi, black ants are sold by the bagful to be steeped in tea or soaked in liquor as a natural remedy for ailments such as arthritis.

The number of economic crimes in China had risen by nearly 10 percent so far this year, the ministry said, warning that the trend could lead to social instability.

It said it had recovered 13 billion yuan ($1.65 billion) in losses from more than 60,000 cases of fraud, pyramid selling and illegal fund-raising.