Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING | January 2013 14 FEATURES There is no doubt he was a larger- than-life character, but he could also be less than smart. In Mr Wan’s old Heavy Club disco, an effigy of a uniformed Macau police officer used to hang over the middle of the dance floor. There’s also no doubt he had a significant and committed following within his faction of the 14K. This muscle was obvious after his imprisonment, which sparked a furious response as his gangwent on the rampage. A wave of fire-bombings ensued. One particularly spectacular attack damaged almost 100 vehicles. Shop fronts were gutted in 24 separate arson attacks. Senior government prosecutor Lourenço Nogueiro and his pregnant wife were gunned down in a motorcycle drive- by shooting. Both survived. At the height of his power in themid-’90s, Mr Wan raked in tens of millions of patacas from his loan-sharking and illegal gambling operations as casino tycoon Stanley Ho Hung Sun’s franchise system for running VIP rooms spun out of control. Mr Wan saw himself as the “Godfather of South China,” and such was his overdeveloped sense of self-belief that at one stage he thought he could unify the 14K and become “boss of bosses”. Perhaps he was just a talented spin doctor, nothing more than a common hoodlum suffering from megalomania and delusions of grandeur. Much of his approach to gangsterism can be put down to his limited schooling, a common problem among a whole generation of Macau youngsters that also was a factor in enabling him to command such a large army of foot soldiers. He also had a strange nickname, but he’d earned it. He cut his teeth—and lost several—in vicious street fights as a young tough. One veteran crime reporter recalled Mr Wan being rushed to hospital as a teenager, “blood dripping from half a dozen stabs”. In 1998 he produced a 14 million pataca (US$1.7 million) autobiographical film called “Casino,” a tacky tale of triad mayhem. Hong Kong star Simon Yam Tat Wah—the brother of top Hong Kong police officer Peter Yam Tat Wing—starred as Mr Wan, and the film’s premiere took place in Hong Kong just five days after his arrest. “He is a good boss and I respect him as a friend. Films often exaggerate things,” Simon Yam said at the premiere. “I spent time with him when we were filming and he is like a kid. Everyone in Macau respects him.” Indeed, during his trial Mr Wan claimed to be a bona fide promoter (he organized several Canto-pop concerts), real estate investor, gaming chip trader and high-stakes gambler. Yes, he knew about the 14K, but he was not a member, never mind a leader. No one bought it. After the sentencing at the Court of First Instance, he flew into a rage and jumped onto a bench, screaming at officials: “You’ve taken dirty money! ... This is the worst verdict of the century!” Asked to calm down by police and court officials, he glared hard at the officers, put his fingers menacingly like a gun to his own temple and screamed an obscenity. Whether that rage has subsided may be a deciding factor in how he decides finally to live his life as a free man. After the sentencing at the Court of First Instance, Mr Wan flew into a rage and jumped onto a bench, screaming at officials: “You’ve taken dirty money ... This is the worst verdict of the century!” Ego run riot—“Casino,” Broken Tooth’s homage to himself