Vancouver: President of 777 Sports Gambling, Slain, Number was up, few Surprised.

by Barry ORegan | December 19, 2007 at 05:53 am

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Opinion
Barry Artiste, Now Public Contributor

What puzzled the Public over the shooting death of a local business man in his Cadillac, was no surprise to Police, media and those in the Justice System . Innocent People rarely die in a hail of gunfire or get randomly murdered for no reason.

Murder victim James Po Ho Cheung must have known he was living on borrowed time getting involved criminal underworld. Charged in a money laundering scheme in 2001 taught him nothing, along with associating with known criminals.

Perhaps if the Justice system had thrown him in jail he may have learned crime doesn't pay, regardless, his death may serve as a reminder to other wanna be gangsters that "Death in A Caddy" is not as glamourous as it is in movies. As for his wife's prior knowledge and acceptance of his criminal activities, well, that's a given, when the almighty dollar trumps life. Perhaps, yet another case when Lucky number 7 or three 7's aren't very lucky, in what amounts to a 21 gun salute for Cheung

Slain man was charged with laundering drug money in 2001

Chad Skelton, Vancouver Sun

Published: Wednesday, December 19, 2007

The owner of an Internet gambling company found shot to death in Vancouver early Saturday was charged in 2001 with helping to launder several hundred thousand dollars in drug money, though the charges were later stayed.

James Po Ho Cheung, 45, was found dead in his Cadillac in a lane at the rear of 3363 Napier St. by police responding to 911 calls. Neighbours had reported hearing gunfire at about 2 a.m. on Saturday.

Court records show Cheung was charged in July 2001 with four counts of money laundering.

He made several appearances in court on the charges before they were stayed on Nov. 25, 2004.

The charges against Cheung list one of his accomplices as George Lawrence Neill, a convicted drug trafficker, who faced almost identical charges around the same time.

Neill pleaded guilty in 2001 to one count of laundering drug money and was sentenced to four years in jail and a $200,000 fine.

Both cases were handled by federal prosecutor Peter Eccles.

Eccles said Tuesday that Cheung was a minor player in the laundering scheme.

His role, he said, was putting Neill in touch with gamblers who could exchange Neill's smaller bills into larger ones, like a stack of 20s for a single $1,000 bill.

"My recollection is basically Jimmy was doing George favours," said Eccles. "Jimmy knew a bunch of gamblers. ... He knew people who could get $1,000 bills. And that's what George Neill wanted."

Eccles said there was never any evidence to suggest Cheung was part of Neill's drug ring.

When Neill pleaded guilty to the laundering charge, Eccles said he decided to stay the charges against Cheung because it was no longer in the public interest to prosecute him.

Neill's conviction for money laundering was not his only run-in with the law.

In 2000, Neill was charged with a number of drug offences after the RCMP seized 240 kilograms of black hashish and 100,000 ecstasy pills from a Vancouver residence.

A year later, Neill pleaded guilty to three counts of conspiracy and one count of drug trafficking and was sentenced to eight years in jail.

And in 1991, Neill was sentenced to 12 years in jail by a judge in Calgary after being convicted of running a massive cocaine and marijuana trafficking empire.

In the lead up to Neill's trial, two of his drug ring associates were killed: One of the ring's enforcers was found dead from a gunshot wound and a Montreal lawyer who was involved in some of the group's dealings was also found murdered.

Vancouver police are still investigating Cheung's murder. He was married to Sutton Group realtor Sandy Wong.

An Internet search shows Cheung was the president of 777 Sports Entertainment Group, whose Internet gaming operations were conducted in San Jose, Costa Rica.

cskelton@png.canwest.com