Billionaire 'mafia' leader Liu Han a violent gambling addict: Boxun

Want China Times, Staff Reporter 2014-05-01

Liu Han on trial in east China's Hubei province on April 19, 2014. (Photo/Xinhua)

Chinese billionaire tycoon Liu Han is a gambling addict who once nearly killed an American in Las Vegas, reports citizen journalism website Boxun News.

The 48-year-old Liu Han, chairman of the Sichuan Hanlong Group conglomerate, is currently on trial in east China's Hubei province fighting allegations of running a "mafia-style" gang to amass billions of US dollars in personal wealth. While his brother Liu Wei has pleaded guilty, Liu Han has denied all charges against him, including murder, financial crime, operating casinos and gun-running.

During the trial it was alleged that the Liu brothers ran underground casinos and intimidated and threatened the lives of rivals to monopolize the local gambling scene.

According to Boxun, Liu Han, who ranked 148th on Forbe's 2012 list of the richest Chinese businesspeople, is a gambling addict himself who has lost an estimated 1 billion yuan (US$160 million) in Macau casinos.

A source from a major casino in Las Vegas also claims that Liu Han has been visiting the casino for more than a decade and typically loses as much as US$10 million every time. However the VIP high roller, who is said to shell out US$5,000-$10,000 per meal, has not visited since last spring, prompting casino staff to speculate that something must have happened to him in China, the source added.

The source recalled an incident where Liu Han once attacked an American gambler. Annoyed that the gambler kept choosing the opposite of whatever he was betting on, Liu Han allegedly split the gambler's head by throwing an ashtray at him before telling the man he'd be happy to foot any hospital bills.

The casino, afraid to lose one of its biggest-spending high rollers, was said to have paid off the assaulted gambler to stop him from notifying the police.

Another source claimed that one year when Liu Han lost a lot of money around Chinese New Year, he ordered all staff out of his presidential suite and beat his underage son behind closed doors.

Liu Han was also allowed to smoke wherever he wants in the casino and is their most valued customer after a Saudi prince, the source said, but added that there have been very few high rollers of Liu Han's caliber since Chinese president and Communist Party chief Xi Jinping came to power in November 2012.

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