Some of Las Vegas casino magnate Sheldon Adelson's dealings in Macau would never have seen the light of day if his relationship with Richard Suen, a Hong Kong businessman, had not gone sour.
In 2008 Suen sued Adelson in Las Vegas over a "success fee" he says he earned for setting up meetings with top officials in Beijing for the purpose of obtaining a gaming licence in Macau.
In mid-2000, Suen met with Adelson at The Peninsula hotel in Hong Kong, according to a report in The Yew York Times. China had regained sovereignty over Macau the previous year, and Macau was about to end local tycoon Stanley Ho Hung-sun's four-decade gambling monopoly.
In an arrangement made by Suen, Adelson flew to Beijing in summer 2001 with William Weidner, then Sands' president. In his lawsuit, Suen alleged that during that trip, Adelson was asked to use his influence in the US Congress to derail a human rights resolution China feared could undermine its bid to host the 2008 Olympic Games.
How Suen came to have the political connections to set up these meetings remains a mystery. Information about him is extremely hard to come by.
Three industry analysts reached by the Post all said they knew nothing about Suen or about the dispute other than what had already been reported.