While some godfathers of Italian-American organised crime had to settle for posthumous Hollywood epics about their escapades, 14K triad boss 'Broken Tooth' Wan Kuok-koi decided not to wait.
He spent $14 million last year making the autobiographical movie Casino - a tacky tale of triad mayhem and muscle on the path to the pinnacle of the 14K triad gang.
Banned in Macau, it was never going to win any awards, but when it opened in Hong Kong on May 6 last year, all the ingredients were there for a glittering premiere.
Among them, the star, Simon Yam Tat-wah who played Wan's character 'Giant'; the paparazzi; Broken Tooth's Hong Kong wife Yeung Oi-ching, who wept in court at yesterday's verdict; and 1,000 fans.
Wan, who was jailed yesterday for 15 years, was already in a cell in Macau's Coloane Prison.
Ms Yeung, his second wife, complained then, 'He's innocent. Soon, everyone will know the truth.' Yam - younger brother of Assistant Commissioner of Police Peter Yam Tat-wing - described the 14K kingpin as 'a good boss', adding: 'I respect him as a friend. Films often exaggerate things.' Days earlier, as he sat in the Lisboa Hotel watching a Hong Kong TV documentary about himself, Wan was arrested.