When we first saw the video of a bus in China that would actually drive over top of other traffic over a year ago, we all thought, "What a terrible idea!" But since what we saw of the Transit Elevated Bus (TEB) was a miniature concept illustration, we just assumed it would never actually go into service. Strangely, a bus was built and tested, but was abandoned on its tracks in the city of Qinhuangdao. It sat there for months, snarling traffic around it. Now it turns out that the whole thing appears to be a scheme to fleece money from investors.
On Sunday, Beijing's Dongcheng district police bureau announced on Weibo that it had started an investigation into the company behind the TEB project—Huaying Kailai, an online investing platform not unlike Crowdcube. The police say they are holding more than 30 people, including Bai Zhiming who runs both Huaying Kailai and the TEB project.