Written by :
Published on :
A Taiwanese businessman/fugitive nicknamed "“The Eel” "Lu Man" (鱸鰻) was gunned down early Monday morning while walking his dog in Cambodia (Sihanoukville). He was considered one of Taiwan's biggest gambling kingpins.
A major underground gambling operator and financier, “The Eel” (real name Lin Bingwen), allegedly was involved in a number of criminal activities including, but not limited to, illegal betting networks, money laundering and organized crime-linked financial systems. He mostly conducted his criminal empire via the 88 Club, considered to be the hub for an extensive gambling and fraud network.
Bingwen wanted by Taiwanese authorities before fleeing overseas.
Advocate and researcher, Jacob in Cambodia, has more:
29 bullets. Five to the head. Lin Bingwen was walking his dog when the gunmen got him. He usually had three bodyguards. That night he was alone.
Cambodian police have arrested two suspects, reportedly one Taiwanese, one mainland Chinese. CCTV showed a black car tailing Lin for days before the hit.
Meanwhile Guo Zhemin, Lin's co-defendant in the 88 Club case, was in a Taipei courtroom today for his appeal. Reporters asked if he knew why Lin was killed. Silence.
Jacob in Cambodia writes further that Lin got his start as a gangster in the Sanchong-Luzhou area of New Taipei City, reportedly affiliated with the Tiandao Alliance (天道盟), one of Taiwan's major organized crime groups.
In 2007, Lin and partners bought a professional baseball team, the CPBL's Cobras, for about NT$130 million (~$4 million). They renamed it the Media T-Rex (米迪亞暴龍).
He would ultimately go on to become a baseball fixer.
Pitchers were offered NT$300,000 per fixed game, batters NT$200,000. Players who refused were threatened with being benched or traded.
Lin even bet against his own team and profited at least NT$45 million from seven confirmed fixed games.
Lin would ultimately be convicted and, following his sentence, ended up in the Chinese gambling Mecca of Macau where he teamed up with Alvin Chau (周焯華), known as "Sai Mai Wah" (洗米華), then the head of Suncity Group, Macau's largest casino junket operator.
Lin became a VIP room operator, reportedly handling single-night swings of up to NT$4 billion (~$125 million). This is where his "Billion-Dollar Gambling King" (百億賭王) reputation was cemented, Jacob in Cambodia explained.
The 88 Club would soon be born. Catering to mostly wealthy Chinese gamblers, the 88 Club functioned similarly to a VIP junket program—recruiting and managing high-stakes bettors.
In Taiwan, the 88 Club ran as an exclusive private venue in that nation's Xinyi district run by Guo Zhemin (郭哲敏). Its guest list included prosecutors, senior police officials, and politicians from across the political spectrum.
The operation underneath was far larger. Prosecutors alleged Guo ran an online gambling network through his AE Group and used underground banking channels to move approximately NT$21.7 billion (~$680 million) in illegal transfers.
The killing of Lin, while occurring in Cambodia, involves Chinese nationals and networks. Evidence, witnesses, and financial trails span across multiple countries. Taiwan officials are aware of this matter.
The investigation continues and is largely being treated as a targeted underworld assassination tied to illegal gambling networks, not a random crime. No suspects have been identified at this time.
- Alejandro Boticelli, Gambling911.com
