page_title: Raymond "Shrimp Boy" Chow
section_title: Murder of Allen Leung
hierarchical_section_title: Raymond "Shrimp Boy" Chow / Criminal activity / Murder of Allen Leung
caption_attribution_description: 603 Jackson is really a small space.
context_page_description: Raymond Kwok-Cheung Chow, nicknamed "Shrimp Boy", is a Hong Kong-born felon with ties to a San Francisco Chinatown street gang and an organized crime syndicate, including the American branch of the Hong Kong-based triad Wo Hop To and the Hop Sing Boys.
  In 2006, Chow became the leader of the Ghee Kung Tong, a Chinese fraternal association based in San Francisco, California. In 2014, Chow along with 28 other defendants including former California State Senator Leland Yee, were indicted for racketeering, money laundering, and a host of other alleged criminal activities. Leland Yee pleaded guilty to racketeering in July 2015 for conspiring with his campaign fundraiser to defeat donation limits through money laundering. Despite initial press releases, Chow was not indicted in a racketeering conspiracy with Leland Yee. Chow was indicted in a racketeering conspiracy which alleged that he oversaw a criminal faction of the Ghee Kung Tong. Chow is the only co-defendant of 29 to publicly profess his innocence and ask for an expedited jury trial. His trial began on November 9, 2015.
context_section_description: Shortly after Chow was released from prison, in late 2003, Allen Leung approached the FBI saying that Chow intended to "clean up Chinatown" by removing him and the head of another tong, according to testimony at Chow's 2015 trial from William Wu, the agent handling Chow. Leung was a prominent Chinatown leader, who had founded (with his two brothers) the Leung's White Crane Dragon and Lion Dance Association in 1971 and had served as president of the Hop Sing Tong (HST) four times, beginning in 1994 after the previous Hop Sing leadership (Chong and Chow) were in exile or imprisoned. Leung was also the dragon head of the Hung Moon Ghee Kong Tong (CKT), a fraternal association in San Francisco sometimes referred to as the Chinese Freemasons. An associate of Chow contacted Jack Lee, another HST elder, to ask for money "to do business" with the Hop Sing.
  Lee raised $120,000 in pledges for a planned local youth group from Hop Sing chapters in other western states. While Hop Sing was still deciding whether to release the money to Chow, the headquarters of four tongs and a restaurant were splattered with red paint on February 25, 2005, but the headquarters of the Hop Sing were spared. However, on March 11, 2005, the Hop Sing voted to turn down the request for money; the next day, shots were fired into the headquarters of Hop Sing. A threatening letter written in Chinese was sent to the Hop Sing Tong. Thau Benh "Kevin" Cam later testified that Chow had ordered him to shoot the Hop Sing Tong headquarters.
  Leung approached the FBI again in the wake of the Hop Sing shooting, and said that Chow had personally demanded $100,000 at the Hop Sing headquarters in late 2004. Since Chow was still on supervised release, the FBI questioned him about the incident, and Chow countered that Hop Sing had instead approached him and "wanted him to loan-shark the money." Shortly afterward, Chow was taken into custody on immigration charges. The charges stemmed from Chow's apparent association with Chinatown gangs, in violation of his bargain with prosecutors, and deportation proceedings began. Leung stated that Chow or his associates "will try to get him and the [Hop Sing] board members" in retaliation for the failed demand for money, but Leung refused to wear a listening device, and the extortion case died for lack of evidence.
  Chow joined the CKT at around this time. According to Kongphet "Fat Joe" Chanthavong, Chow convened a meeting in mid-2005 in the back room of an Oakland bar, instructing Chanthavong and two others to murder Leung. At the time, Allen Leung was president of the Hop Sing Tong (HST) and dragon head of the CKT; because the HST had refused to loan money to Chow to start a business, he had become upset and told his associate, Wen Bing "Skinny Ray" Lei, that Lei should replace Leung as head of the HST. Cam corroborated Chanthavong's testimony that Lei should take over the CKT, adding that Chow complained about Leung's leadership. Chow then instructed Cam to coordinate with Lei to get rid of Allen Leung. Cam and Lei would later recruit Chanthavong into the plot to murder Leung. Chanthavong was tasked with driving by Leung's shop at 603 Jackson to watch Leung's movements. Allen Leung's son Clifton testified that in December 2005 or January 2006, Lei had entered Leung's shop on Jackson Street ostensibly to discuss business, but casually asked if the security cameras in the office were functional. Allen turned to Clifton, asking the same question, and Clifton said they did not work.
  Allen Leung was shot to death on February 27, 2006 by an unidentified suspect at his Chinatown import-export business on Jackson Street. According to the police, the gunman entered Leung's office and demanded cash; although Leung offered it to him, the unknown suspect shot Leung in "an execution slaying" before Leung could hand over any money. During Chow's subsequent trial, Cam testified this was the third attempt on Leung's life; the first attempt was called off after Chanthavong withdrew, and the second attempt failed when Cam was unable to intercept Leung 
caption: 603 Jackson; the name of Leung's business, Wonkow Art Centres, can still be seen behind the red paint on the awning
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