One minute they were being chauffeur-driven home, the next they were on their way to captivity in a Kam Tin hut. Victor Li Tzar-kuoi and Walter Kwok Ping-sheung did not have time to understand what was going on. But their kidnappings were meticulously planned over many months. In late 1995, Cheung began to outline to his associates his audacious plan to abduct Hong Kong's top 10 tycoons one by one. With six senior members of his gang, Cheung held meetings in six hotels across Guangdong to plot the 'Operation Sun' kidnappings of the rich and the famous, among them Chief Secretary for Administration Anson Chan Fang On-sang. By February 1996, key jobs had been assigned in one session in a Shenzhen hotel. Cheung Kong's No. 2 man Victor Li, son of Li Ka-shing, was identified as the first victim. Cheung sent off his lieutenant Yip Kai-foon with $1.4 million to buy two AK-47 rifles, five shotguns, a shortened rifle, ammunition, explosives and bullet-proof vests. Others were ordered to buy vehicles and give them false licence plates, obtain communications devices and rent a farm house to hold the victim. After a delay due to bad weather, the kidnapping tools were shipped to Hong Kong on May 12 but Yip, who had travelled with the contraband to Western Pier, was caught in a gun battle with police. He was seriously injured and arrested. Police recovered a shortened rifle, a shotgun, explosives and 33 rounds of ammunition, but the rest of the equipment was safely received by Cheung and Chan Chi-ho. A daily watch was being kept on Victor Li and his office in the China Building in Pedder Street, Central, identifying when and where he might be most vulnerable. On May 23 at about 6pm, Victor Li climbed into his dark blue Nissan President limousine and told his chauffeur to head for his Shouson Hill home. The gang member on watch, Or Yin-ting, made a phone call and the kidnapping was set in motion. Nothing happened as the tycoon's car edged through the Central traffic, then on to the clearer roads on the south of Hong Kong Island. But as it approached his home on Deep Water Bay Road, the limousine was trapped by three cars which had been waiting near the house. Cheung stopped in front of the limousine, Chan drew up behind and Chu Yik-sing went alongside. Victor Li and his chauffeur, identified as Mr Lam, were bundled out of their car, which was left abandoned with one tell-tale bullet hole, and shoved into the gang's cars. They were taken to a hut in Ma On Kong, Kam Tin. While blindfolded and with their hands and feet tied, they were fed roast pork and rice while Cheung made his ransom demand to Li Ka-shing. In court, Cheung revealed he had always planned to capture the son because the father 'could write a bigger cheque'. Payment negotiations went smoothly. Victor Li and his chauffeur were released the next day and Cheung collected a $1.38 billion ransom, of which he kept nearly half. Cheung said he was impressed by the behaviour and co-operation of the Lis and pledged never to attack their family again, leading him naturally, he said, to focus on Sun Hung Kai chairman Walter Kwok Ping-sheung as his next victim. Detailed planning again began months before, this time in April 1997 with the gang again meeting in various hotels in Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Dongguan. This time, $2 million was invested in weapons and recruiting gang members. The abduction took place on September 29 as Mr Kwok left the Sun Hung Kai Centre in Wan Chai at about 6pm. The kidnapping was very similar to the first. The gang waited until the victim's limousine had left the traffic jams behind and intercepted his car on Beach Road, Repulse Bay. They took him to the same Fanling hut and also bound him and covered his eyes. But Mr Kwok refused to call his family and ask them to prepare a ransom. Frustrated, Cheung ordered the tycoon to be stripped to his underwear and shoved him into a small wooden box with air holes to help him reconsider his decision. Mr Kwok was also beaten before he capitulated. He called his wife but it still took some time for the family to agree what to do. Fed up with the delays and lack of co-operation, Cheung settled for $600 million. Mr Kwok was released six days after being captured, on October 4. Cheung paid off his gang and then parted with instructions for them to 'swim across the river like a Chinese bullfrog'. Thus ordered never to meet again, the kidnappers parted ways, only to find themselves reunited a few months later in the hands of the Guangdong Security Bureau.