Chinese Billionaire Dies After Eating Poisoned Cat Meat Stew

A Chinese billionaire is dead after apparently ingesting some slow-boiled cat meat stew -- though it wasn't the cat meat that killed him.

Police in southern China have detained a local official on suspicion of poisoning the stew at the restaurant where the two were eating in Guangdong province on Dec. 23.

Agriculture official Huang Guang, billionaire Long Liyuan and a third diner were sharing a cat meat hot pot -- a local delicacy -- when Huang allegedly dropped some toxic herbs into the stew, the BBC reported.

Long, who ran a forestry company, was taken to the hospital after feeling dizzy and sick and later suffered a cardiac arrest. Huang and the third diner were hospitalized as well, though both survived. According to the New York Times, Huang had apparently eaten some of the poisoned stew himself to avoid suspicion.

Police detained Huang on Dec. 30, after discovering evidence that Huang had embezzled money from Long.

Police initially took the restaurant's owner into custody on suspicion of serving unsanitary food, according to the BBC. Long's family, not believing he died simply of food poisoning, offered a $16,000 reward for information and insisted police keep the case open.