The Snakehead: An Epic Tale of the Chinatown Underworld and the American Dream (53 page)

65
“I would have my kids”:
Frederic Dannen, “Revenge of the Green Dragons,”
The New Yorker
, November 16, 1992.

65
One day in 1981:
Ah Kay went by several different names. Guo Liang Qi, or Guo Liang Chi, is the Mandarin Chinese transliteration of his name, which he used when he first arrived in the United States. But he also used spellings that more closely approximated the Fujianese pronunciation of his name, Kwok Ling-Kay or Kwok Leung-Kee, both of which were adopted by law enforcement and immigration authorities at various times. For ease, I refer to him the way everyone in Chinatown and law enforcement did: as Ah Kay.

65
Born to a humble family:
The details of Ah Kay’s arrival and early years in the United States are drawn from Ah Kay’s testimony in United States v. Zhang Zi Da and Zhang Zi Mei, 96 CR 44 (1996) (hereafter Ah Kay testimony, Zhang Zi trial).

66
The precise origins:
Dannen, “Revenge of the Green Dragons.”

66
There were a few members:
Unless otherwise noted, details about the behavior and activities of the Fuk Ching gang are drawn from interviews with Bill McMurry and Konrad Motyka on October 31, 2005, and December 15, 2005.

67
If you wanted to open a restaurant:
“Asian Organized Crime,” p. 103.

68
At the Chinese New Year:
Ibid., p. 51.

68
It was not unusual:
Interview with Ray Kerr, former head of the FBI’s C-6 squad, May 22, 2007.

68
Nevertheless, the Fuk Ching:
Interview with Dougie Lee, February 10, 2006; interview with Konrad Motyka and Bill McMurry, October 31, 2005; interview with Joseph Pollini, formerly of NYPD, June 7, 2007.

68
With their connections:
William Kleinknecht, Charles M. Sennott, and Dean Chang, “Empire of Terror,”
New York Daily News
, June 20, 1993.

68
From his early days:
Interview with Luke Rettler, May 30, 2008; Ah Kay testimony, Zhang Zi trial.

68
In the spring of 1984:
Details of the murder of Steven Lim are drawn from Ah Kay testimony, Sister Ping trial and Zhang Zi trial.

68.
To Ah Kay:
Confidential source.

69.
For their own survival:
Inter view with Luke Rettler, December 8, 2005.

69
Bank accounts were uncommon:
Ibid.

69
One day in 1985:
The account of Ah Kay’s robbery of Sister Ping’s house in Brooklyn is drawn from Ah Kay testimony, Sister Ping trial and Zhang Zi trial, from Sister Ping’s sentencing remarks, and from written responses from Sister Ping.

70
Years later a prosecutor:
closing arguments by Leslie Brown in United States v. Cheng Chui Ping, aka “Sister Ping,” 94 CR 953 (hereafter closing arguments of Leslie Brown, Sister Ping trial).

70
When Luke Rettler:
Interview with Luke Rettler, December 8, 2005.

71
Rettler joined the office:
Interview with Luke Rettler, July 26, 2007.

71
One problem with the extortion cases:
Interview with Tom Trautman of the FBI, May 3, 2007.

71
With his languid movements:
Virtually every FBI agent I spoke with who had spent any time with Ah Kay testified to his charisma. Konrad Motyka, Bill McMurry, and Tom Trautman all described what they perceive as his natural leadership abilities.

71
Once when they patted:
Interview with Joseph Pollini, June 7, 2007.

72
Still, everyone slips up:
The account of Ah Kay’s extortion of Charlie Kwok and his arrest by Dougie Lee is drawn from an interview with Dougie Lee, February 10, 2006, and Ah Kay testimony, Sister Ping trial and Zhang Zi trial.

72
The massacres at Tiananmen:
Ah Kay testimony, Sister Ping trial and Zhang Zi trial; and Faison,
South of the Clouds
, p. 120.

72
By the time Ah Kay:
Interview with Bill McMurry and Konrad Motyka, October 21, 2005.

72.
Foochow Paul had left:
Dannen, “Revenge of the Green Dragons.”

73.
“Why did Bush step down?”:
Confidential source.

73
Ah Kay had an older brother:
Interview with Bill McMurry and Konrad Motyka, December 15, 2005; hearing transcript in United States of America v. Kwok Ling Kay, et al., 93 Cr. 783, October 12, 1993.

73
“If Ah Kay said”:
Testimony of Tu Wei Chung in State of New Jersey v. Dan Xin Lin, et. al., Bergen County (1995) (hereafter the Teaneck trial).

73
Ah Kay was attended:
Sentencing hearing in United States v. Kwok Ling Kay, 93 Cr. 783 (JSM), December 4, 1998; report of an interview of Ronald Chao, aka China Man, by members of the FBI and Teaneck Police Department, April 5, 1994.

74
The most unlikely member:
Unless otherwise noted, details relating to Alan Tam and his role in the gang are drawn from Alan Tam’s testimony in State of New Jersey v. Dan Xin Lin, et al., Bergen County (1995) (hereafter, Alan Tam testimony, Teaneck trial); interviews with Luke Rettler on December 8, 2005, and June 26, 2007; interviews with Bill McMurry and Konrad Motyka on October 31, 2005, and December 15, 2005; and a brief telephone conversation with Alan Tam on November 1, 2007.

74
He was, in the words:
Interview with Bill McMurry, December 15, 2005.

74
All the money the gang:
The dollar figure is from Alan Tam testimony, the Teaneck trial; the other expenses and the trick with the BMWs come from an interview with Bill McMurry and Konrad Motyka, December 15, 2005.

74.
They hung out, got high:
Alan Tam testimony, the Teaneck trial.

75.
Their turf consisted of:
Ah Kay testimony, Sister Ping trial.

75
And they policed that turf:
Interview with Chauncey Parker, formerly of the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Southern District of New York, May 29, 2007; sealed complaint, United States v. Ronald Chao, aka “Chinaman,” 93 Mag. 1881, August 25, 1993.

75
The gang had operated:
Ah Kay testimony, Zhang Zi trial.

75
He elected to open:
Tom Robbins, “The Biz Man and the Thug,”
New York Daily News
, June 20, 1993.

75
The grand opening was:
Details concerning the shootout are drawn from the “Declaration of Thomas Trautman” in the criminal complaint in United States v. Lee Fai Gam, aka “Frankie Lee,” 93 Mag. 2224, October 19, 1993.

76
Governor Mario Cuomo:
Robbins. “The Biz Man and the Thug.”

76
At the same time:
Pamela Burdman, “Inside the Chinese Smuggling Rings,”
San Francisco Chronicle
, August 23, 1993. See also testimony of Detective Kenneth Yates, Combined Forces Asian Investigative Unit, Metropolitan Toronto Police Department, “Asian Organized Crime: The New International Criminal,” hearing before the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the Committee on Governmental Affairs, United States Senate, June 18 and August 4, 1992 (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1992), p. 28.

76
“It is unfair to blacken”:
Cited in Ko-lin Chin, “The Social Organization of Chinese Human Smuggling,” in Kyle and Koslowski,
Global Human Smuggling
, p. 222.

76
He raised money:
Chan and Dao, “Merchants of Misery.”

76
But from its opening:
Robbins, “The Biz Man and the Thug.”

76.
At the DA’s office:
Interview with Luke Rettler, December 8, 2005. Konrad Motyka and Bill McMurry echoed this view that the Fuk Ching and the Fukienese American Association inverted the standard tong-gang dynamic during these years.

77.
A Senate subcommittee found:
“Asian Organized Crime,” p. 113.

77
It outlined the close:
Ibid., p. 68.

77
On New Year’s Eve 1990:
All details of Fang Kin Wah’s kidnapping and subsequent experience in court are drawn from an interview with Joseph Pollini, June 7, 2007; an interview with Luke Rettler, July 26, 2007; and the opinion in People v. Hok Ming Chan, 230 A.D.2d 165 (1997).

80
After the police showed up:
Interview with Joseph Pollini, June 7, 2007.

80
When it proved too difficult:
Interview with Christine Leung of NYPD, June 8, 2007.

80
“It was a better business”:
Interview
with Steven Wong, November 11, 2005.

CHAPTER 5: SWIFTWATER

This chapter is based primarily on an-interview with Niagara County investgator Ed Garde and on an extraordinary trove of documents that fill several boxes at the Niagara County Sheriffs Office: original investigation reports from Operation Swiftwater, crime scene photos, and transcripts from multiple interviews with Richard Kephart and James Dullan. The material on Sister Ping’s role in the Niagara route is drawn from interviews with Patrick Devine of the INS, Peter Lee of the FBI, and Larry Hay of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and on Hays original handwritten investigation notes. Finally, the transcripts and court records documenting the legal cases of Sister Ping and Cheung Yick Tak are now maintained by the National Archives and provided a great deal of valuable material.

81
On January 3, 1989:
Unless otherwise indicated, details of the Swiftwater investigation and the Cheng family’s Niagara operation come from interviews conducted with Sheriff Tom Beilein and investigator Ed Garde at the Niagara County Sheriffs Office on July 11, 2007.

81
They rolled the body:
The description of the body is based on a series of Niagara County crime scene photographs.

81
The woman’s body:
“Floater (female) Autopsy Report,” Niagara County Supplementary Report, ECMC# Mex-1-89, January 4, 1989.

81
Not far away, the officers found:
Constance L. Hays, “Four Illegal Asian Immigrants Are Believed to Have Drowned in River,”
New York Times
, January 6, 1989.

82
From the woman’s luggage:
Niagara County Addendum Report, “Jane Doe, Youngstown,” CR 89-CR-5-1, RL 182, January 3, 1989.

82
Two days earlier:
INS memorandum of investigation, “Malaysian Investigation,” File Number BUF 50/34, January 3, 1989; INS, “Operation Swiftwater.”

82
When the woman’s body:
INS, “Operation Swiftwater.”

82
Ed Garde called:
INS memorandum of investigation, “Malaysian Investigation,” January 5, 1989. These details were confirmed in an interview with Steven Gleit on November 15, 2007.

83
In 1904 the
Buffalo Times:
Kwong and Miščević,
Chinese America
, p. 143.

83
Hong Kong residents:
John F. Bonfatti, “INS Arrests Nine in Alleged Immigrant Smuggling Rings,” Associated Press, May 5, 1989.

83
By the time Haw Wang:
Testimony of Detective Kenneth Yates, Combined Forces Investigative Unit, Metropolitan Toronto Police Department, in “Asian Organized Crime,” p. 27.

83
The previous July:
Gene Warner, “’88 Deaths in River Broke Grip of Smuggling Ring,”
Buffalo News
, September 17, 1989.

83
On January 3:
All details in this paragraph, including the identification of Cheung Yick Tak, are drawn from INS, “Operation Swiftwater.”

84
But when they ran:
INS memorandum of investigation, “Rafters—Lew,” File Number BUF 50/34, undated.

84
A search of
his
toll records:
INS memorandum of investigation, “Malaysian Investigation,” March 6, 1989.

84
Kephart was a cabdriver:
INS, “Operation Swiftwater.”

84
“You know what this”:
Testimony of Richard Kephart in US v. Yick Tak
Cheung, Wai Wei Cheng, et al., CR90-113 (1990) (hereafter Kephart testimony).

84
The investigators took Kephart:
Testimony of Special Agent Peter F. Hoelter in US v. Yick Tak Cheung, Wai Wei Cheng, et al., CR90-113 (1990).

84
One evening the previous August:
Niagara Regional Police Force supplementary report, May 15, 1989.

84
There he met three Asian men:
Unless otherwise noted, the details of Kephart’s encounter with Paul and first and subsequent smuggling runs are drawn from an INS transcript, interview with Richard Kephart, April 13, 1989.

85
“He’d come out”:
Kephart testimony.

85
Yick Tak was businesslike:
Testimony of James Dullan in US v. Yick Tak Cheung, Wai Wei Cheng, et al., CR90-113 (1990) (hereafter, Dullan testimony).

85
He always passed:
Ibid.

85
He met Yick Tak:
Kephart testimony.

85
Paul certainly spent:
INS transcript, interview with Richard Kephart by Special Agent Peter Hoelter, April 18, 1989.

85.
He was a risk-taker:
INS transcript, interview with James Dullan, un dated.

86.
Paul’s favorite expression:
Ibid.

86
He told Dullan:
Ibid.

86
After a few trips:
INS transcript, interview with Richard Kephart, April 13, 1989.

86
He had made “millions”:
Ibid.

86
Through the course of the fall:
Ibid.

86
Paul said that when:
INS transcript, interview with James Dullan, undated.

87
Once when they were:
INS transcript, interview with James Dullan, April 13, 1989.

87
The cabbies were impressed:
INS transcript, interview with Richard Kephart, April 13, 1989.