Hong Kong-born ‘Shrimp boy’ ‘killed his way to top of Chinatown group in San Francisco’

Raymond Chow is accused of assassinating predecessor in 2006 before turning it into criminal group

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Raymond “Shrimp Boy” Chow smiles after being sworn in as the “Dragon Head”of the Chee Kung Tong in Chinatown in San Francisco in 2006. Photo: AP

Published: 3:45pm, 16 Oct 2015Updated: 12:29pm, 17 Oct 2015

To ascend to the position of “dragon head” of one of San Francisco Chinatown’s fraternal organisations turned criminal enterprises, Raymond “Shrimp Boy” Chow arranged the assassination of his predecessor, according to a federal grand jury indictment on Friday.

The murder charge raises the stakes in an undercover five-year public corruption and organised crime probe that has already yielded racketeering charges against Hong Kong-born Chow and 28 others. The investigation also implicated a prominent former state Democratic senator, leading to his guilty plea .

Chow, 55, took control of Ghee Kung Tong in 2006 shortly after Allen Leung, its leader, was gunned down by a masked assassin at his import-export business. At the time of his death Leung, 56, was involved in Chinese community brotherhoods, or tongs, and had been appointed to city task forces by two San Francisco mayors.

State Senator Leland Yee (second from left) has been implicated in an organised crime probe involving Raymond “Shrimp Boy” Chow (right). Photo: AP

In the wake of Leung death’s, Chow, who arrived from Hong Kong in 1976 at the age of 16, allegedly turned the fraternal organisation Leung had led into a criminal group that was behind the trafficking of stolen goods, narcotics, bulletproof vests and guns, while also unleashing violence.

Prosecutors allege that Chow’s racketeering enterprise laundered US$2.6 million in cash from illegal bookmaking.

The undercover FBI investigation led to a guilty plea from ex-state Senator Leland Yee for taking bribes. Yee, the investigation revealed, was a close associate of Chow. Yee was accused of winning passage of a state Senate resolution honoring Chow’s organisation in exchange for a bribe, as well as offering to broker a weapons sale.