More proof that Xi means business
Wondering how the Chinese crackdown on corruption in Macau can be so effective? Maybe it’s the penalty.
On February 11, by order of a Chinese court, a billionaire gang leader linked to money laundering in Macau was executed.
The People’s Supreme Court in Hubei province, central China, upheld and carried out the death sentence imposed last May on 48-year-old Liu Han, onetime chairman of the Sichuan Hanlong Group. Liu’s business was described by the Xinhua News Agency as the biggest private enterprise in Sichuan, a province in southwestern China.
Liu owned subsidiaries in the electricity, energy, finance, mining, real estate and securities sectors, according to Xinhua. He was also deputy chairman of the General Chamber of Commerce in Sichuan and a three-term delegate to the province’s People’s Political Consultative Conference.
His brother Liu Wei and three others, described as “members of a Mafia-style gang,” also were executed, according to GGRAsia.
News of the executions is sure to have a chilling effect on others under scrutiny by the Chinese government; a crackdown on corruption by President Xi Jinping has led high rollers to flee the gaming city in droves. According to a 2014 report in the New York Times, China executes more people each year than any country in the world.
The investigation of Liu’s activities first began in 2003. In 2013, he was arrested and detained under house arrest. Last year, the brothers and 34 others were convicted of a laundry list of gang activities.
In addition to his involvement at least nine murders, Liu’s criminal activities included gambling, gun sales, racketeering, vandalism and harboring criminals. When authorities raided his home in 2013, they found hand grenades, submachine guns, pistols and knives, according to reports.
Liu was known for flaunting his wealth, including a fleet of Bentleys, Ferraris and Rolls Royces. But in the public eye, he was just as well known for his philanthropy. He built a children’s school in his home province after the devastating 2008 earthquake. His brother carried the Olympic torch in the run-up to the 2008 Beijing Games.
Apparently, the brothers’ criminal enterprises paid the bills. Liu reportedly made more than US $29.6 million taking Mainland Chinese citizens to gamble in Macau. And according to South China Morning Post, his overall gang activity pulled in almost $7 billion. In 2012, Liu was ranked 148th on Forbes’ list of China’s richest people.
