Tycoons facing charges of running mafia-like gang

Two brothers, well-known business tycoons and philanthropists in southwest China's Sichuan Province, have been accused of running a mafia-like gang. [Xinhua photo]

A crackdown on the gang was launched in April. The Ministry of Public Security ordered police in Beijing, Hubei, Sichuan and elsewhere to cooperate in the bust, Xinhua said. During their investigation, police traveled to 10 provinces and cities, and seized three military grenades, 20 guns and 677 bullets, Xinhua reported.

Liu Han's disappearance disrupted Hanlong's deals with mining companies in the United States and Australia. Hanlong owns a 13 percent stake in General Moly, a miner of molybdenum, a mineral used to harden steel, and 14 percent of Australia's Sundance Resources.

Hanlong was founded in 1997 and has interests in mining, construction of hydroelectric power, highway and tourism infrastructure and other businesses with a total workforce of more than 12,000 people, according to its website.

In 2012, Liu Han was 148th on Forbes magazine's list of the richest Chinese businesspeople, with a fortune estimated at US$855 million.

The brothers' political ties in Sichuan are said to have helped Liu Han's election as a political adviser for three terms, Xinhua said. Liu Wei served as a torchbearer during the 2008 Olympic torch relay.

However, fellow residents in Guanghan knew them as monopolizing the local gambling and shark loan business.

Among the other people accused are three officials in the police and prosecutors' offices in Sichuan, Xinhua said, adding that Liu Wei's testimony showed they were treated to money and gifts as well as weekly parties.

They are Liu Xuejun, former political commissar in the Deyang City Public Security Bureau, Lu Bin, the bureau's former finance chief, and Liu Weizhong, former deputy prosecutor in Shifang City.

Liu Xuejun hid or destroyed evidence against the brothers, and offered tip-offs when police planned to investigate murders connected to them, prosecutors said. In return, Liu Han helped him to get promotion.

Liu Wei admitted he had treated them in exclusive clubs and sometimes they took drugs together, Xinhua reported.

The Beijing News said Liu Han might also have had ties with Li Chongxi, former top political adviser for Sichuan, who is under investigation for severe violations of discipline.

Li had been in charge of the mining industry in Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture in 2003 and 2004.

The government bought privately run mines and held auctions, with Liu Han and his cousin Liu Canglong winning most of the mines, documents showed.

More than 100 members of the public were made to suffer by the gang, but few reported any crime.

Victims and their families did not even dare to speak the name "Liu" out loud, referring to them as "that family" instead, Xinhua said.

Xiong Wei was killed in 1998 by a security guard in one of Liu Han's companies when the villager was leading a protest over relocation compensation.

"My father suffered a stroke after the murder. He cries every day, calling my brother's name," Xiong Li, the victim's sister, told Xinhua.

Silenced by the murder, the villagers stood aside and made way for the development project.

Five days after that killing, Liu Han ordered Zeng Jianjun to shoot dead rival gang boss Zhou Zheng on a Guanghan street.

"One of our family has already been killed. We can not afford to lose another," Zhou's father said, explaining that talking about his son's murder was taboo, even in family chats.

Though the gang is alleged to have operated mainly in Sichuan, authorities in neighboring Hubei are handling the case, with a court in Hubei's Xianning City expected to put the suspects on trial on a date not yet specified.