A former board chairman and 54 other people went on trial Monday in Shenyang on charges of contract fraud, which allegedly involved thousands of farmers who supplied ants to be used in producing aphrodisiac tonic.

Prosecutors accused Wang Fengyou, the former chairman of the Yilishen Tianxi Group in Liaoning Province, and the other defendants of contract fraud and other crimes, the Shenyang Intermediate People's Court heard.

Yilishen Tianxi Group was founded in January 2003 and made aphrodisiac tonic from ants. The company organized thousands of ant farmers to supply it with the insects on condition that they paid a contract bond.

The company was declared bankrupt in November 2007.

A court judge said the trial would last for a few days.

(Xinhua News Agency May 26, 2009)