'Gambling king' took fallen tycoon aboard to bet

The casino ship Neptune is closely linked with Lin Chiu, the 'gambling king of the high seas' arrested last year over a corruption scandal involving the head of the Gome electrical-appliance store chain, Wong Kwong-yu. Lin Cheuk-fung, chairman of the ship's operator, the Neptune Group, is the younger brother of Lin Chiu (also known as Lian Chao).

According to the influential mainland business magazine Caijing, Lin Chiu, a delegate to the Guangdong's Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) from 2003 to 2007, invited Wong and mainland officials to gamble aboard the Neptune and helped the tycoon launder money.

Wong was arrested in November for stock manipulation. Lin Chiu was arrested a month later. Caijing reported that he had tried to help Wong's wife, Du Juan, flee.

Wong's arrest brought down a number of heavyweights formerly in charge of law and order in Guangdong: Chen Shaoji, formerly chairman of the Guangdong CPPCC, his former deputy Zheng Shaodong - who rose to become assistant minister of public security - and his deputy Xiang Huaizhu. Fallen Shenzhen mayor Xu Zongheng, now being investigated by the Communist Party's disciplinary watchdog, is also implicated in Wong's case.

The newspaper Wen Wei Po has reported that Lin Chiu and Hong Kong triad boss Cheung Chi-tai jointly invested in the Neptune in 1996. Caijing has reported that Cheung was arrested for links with Lin.

A crew member who has worked on the Neptune for two years said many of her colleagues had seen Wong gambling. 'My boss, Mr Lin [Lin Chiu], used to bring his friends, most of them mainland officials or tycoons, on board for gambling. One of the most well-known figures was Wong.'