Here’s your cow: Company raises ₹598 crore with a promise of 12% return on investment, offers raw meat instead

In Shanghai, China, many people were shocked to learn that they would get beef instead of money from an investment app. A gang of four raised $70 million (over ₹598 crore) over eight years. They claimed to run cattle farms and sell beef.

One woman, Wu, trusted the app after seeing their fancy store. She invested $14,000 (nearly ₹12 lakh) for a 12% yearly return on investment. But, when she tried to withdraw her money, the app offered only beef or a chance to sell it online.

The gang was arrested in November 2024 and charged with illegal fundraising. The app owner blamed investors, saying it wasn’t his fault.

The gang leader, Zhang, denied doing anything wrong. He claimed the scheme was a new business idea. Zhang said he wanted to grow the company like other online companies by giving offers early on. But, things didn’t go as planned.

“I copied those internet companies that subsidised customers at their early stage to expand the company’s scale and ultimately ended up listing. I did not expect it to be so difficult to succeed,” the South China Morning Post quoted Zhang as saying.

Around 10,000 people invested in the scheme, but 2,000 still haven’t got back their money, about 40 million yuan (over 47 crore).

One man, Fan, invested 1 million yuan ( ₹1.18 crore) and was told he’d be given beef instead of money.

He asked, “They said they could give me beef worth one million yuan. How can I accept this? How can I eat so much beef?”

Another man, Hu, invested 3 million yuan ( ₹3.5 crore) and also referred friends. He was shocked when told he’d get beef.

“What can I do with all that beef? Shall I sell it at the wet market? I do not have a licence to sell beef.” SCMP quoted him as saying.

Using fake videos

Police found the scammers showed fake videos of foreign cattle farms to gain trust. In reality, the beef came from local markets, not from abroad. New investments were used to repay older ones.

“While they could not make profits from selling beef, they sucked up more funds from new investors to pay for the principals and interests of previous investors. They operated the con in this way until their capital chain broke,” an officer told the media.