You need to raise the money from investors with a track record of investing in high growth startups, so won't be quite as easy as writing yourself a $250k check.
It would also be a stupid thing to game this rule when there already exists a separate system that allows you to write a 500k check and get a green card.
Nope. You mean you need a consultation firm that does all of this for you for a fee, of which there are many.
The EB-5 is a huge site for immigration fraud and in many cases it functions as a green card-for-cash exchange. In fact, the poor foreign investors who didn't understand this are now suing state governments and associated companies because they received no returns from their investment.[1]
Google "EB-5 fraud" for many many more cases but note that, unlike in most immigration cases, the fraud here is being perpetrated against the visa applicants, not the immigration service. There is no suggestion that they do not have the capital or that they have not received a visa, just that there are no returns.