Zhang Ziqiang  張子強(qiáng)

Zhang Ziqiang, nicknamed the "Big Millionaire", was born in Yulin City, Guangxi in 1955, and moved to Hong Kong with his parents when he was four years old. Zhang, the kingpin of a gangland-like criminal syndicate, committed a great number of crimes including robbery, kidnapping, weapon smuggle and the illegal trading of explosives on the Chinese mainland and in Hong Kong.

In 1990, Zhang and his mobsters took 2,500 Rolex watches with a worth of 30 million HK dollars at the Kai Tak Airport in an armed robbery. One year later, his gang attacked a cash-in-transit at the Kai Tak Airport again, and netted US$17 million and 35 million HK dollars, the highest amount in a robbery in Hong Kong.

In 1996, Zhang kidnapped Victor Li, son of Hong Kong business magnate Li Ka-shing, for 1.04 billion HK dollars in ransom, the highest amount recorded by the Guinness World Records. The daring robber even tied explosives to his waist and personally went to Li Ka-shing's residence to conduct negotiations regarding the amount. Later in 1997, Zhang kidnapped Hong Kong property tycoon Walter Kwok, and got 600 million HK dollars in ransom.

Zhang was caught in Jiangmen, Guangdong in January 1998, and sentenced to death on Nov. 12, 1998 by the Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court.

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