Peter Chong (criminal)

Peter Chong
Born	1943 Vietnam
Occupation	leader of the Wo Hop To syndicate
Criminal charge	racketeering, murder-for-hire, extortion, and arson

Peter Chong (莊炳強) (born in 1943) is an organized crime figure previously convicted of racketeering and extortion who has been described by prosecutors as the former leader of the Wo Hop To syndicate in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Criminal Activities

Chong came to the U.S. from Hong Kong in 1982, ostensibly to start a Chinese opera company, but was accused in court documents of becoming the boss of the Wo Hop To (和合桃) crime syndicate in northern California, a gang involved in loan sharking and extorting protection money from restaurants and gambling dens.

Prosecutors alleged that Chong along with Wayne Kwong and Raymond Kwok Chow were behind plot to murder Boston Chinese underground figure Bike Ming in an effort to form an umbrella organization called Tien Ha Wui ("Whole Earth Association"), that would dominate crime in Chinatowns throughout the U.S. Chong fled to Hong Kong days before his indictment in 1992 for his role in the plot, but was extradited to the U.S. in 2000.

Arrests, Convictions, and Appeals

In 2002, Chong was found guilty of racketeering, murder-for-hire, extortion, and arson, and was sentenced to 15 years and eight months in prison. The prosecution was aided by the testimony of former Chong associate Raymond Chow

The murder for hire conviction was overturned in 2005 by the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals due to a lack of monetary payment to the killers, evidence of proof of involvement was taken to support additional prison time for the racketeering charge. He was thus sentenced to 11 and a half years on the remaining charges.

Chong was released from prison on July 29, 2008.

See also

• List of crime bosses convicted in the 21st century

External links

• Gangland Episode 15 [1] - History Channel Gangland (TV series) episode focuses on these events.