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China Suspects Its 'Car-Eating,' Traffic-Straddling Bus Is a Total Scam (qz.com)

China's "Transit Elevated Bus" or TEB-1 made headlines last year for its futuristic design that let it straddle two lanes of traffic, allowing cars to pass under it. Now, that very bus is the focus of an investigation. According to Quartz, "police in Beijing announced that it had started an investigation into the company behind the TEB for alleged illegal fundraising." From the report: More than 30 people associated with Huaying Kailai, an online financing platform that has been selling an investment product to raise money from individual investors to develop the bus, have been held, said Beijing's Dongcheng district police bureau in a statement (link in Chinese) on microblogging site Weibo. The statement added that the police is working to recover funds from the firm, and advised TEB investors to report their complaints to local police stations. Huaying Kailai couldn't be reached for comment. The number listed on its website is invalid and a message to the email provided bounced back. Bai Zhiming, who runs Huaying Kailai and is also chief executive of TEB Technology Development, a Beijing-based company that purchased the patent for the elevated bus, was among those detained, according to the police statement. Bai bills himself as "the father of the TEB" on Weibo. Days after the Qinghuangdao government announced the TEB track's demolition, Bai told Chinese media that the bus would be relocated to another Chinese city.

2 of 59 comments (clear)

  1. Flost tosp by Hognoxious · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Looks like somebody didn't bribe the right people. Schoolboy error, that.

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  2. Re:pot meet kettle again by blindseer · · Score: 1, Insightful

    The USA holds about 5% of the world's population but about 25% of the world's wealth. That makes us idiots?

    --
    I am armed because I am free. I am free because I am armed.