Ray William Johnson: True Story Podcast - He Kidnapped a Billionaire // The Cheung Tze-keung Story

Episode Date: August 11, 2026

Cheung Tze-keung, nicknamed "Big Spender," was a notorious 1990s Hong Kong gangster who orchestrated massive heists and high-profile abductions, most famously kidnapping Victor Li, the son of billionaire Li Ka-shing, for a record billion dollar ransom.

So a man walks into a mansion and the family who owns it is super wealthy. And this man has a bomb strapped to his chest and he demands that this family give him $2 billion right now. So why is he doing this? Well, the story starts with this guy. His nickname is Big Spender. And Big Spender is about 41 and he's living in Hong Kong. And Big Spender is a somewhat well-known criminal in Hong Kong. He famously stole a shipment of Rolex watches worth me.

millions. He also famously robbed an armored van and stole millions. The dude is notorious. So with all this money, he lives this baller lifestyle. Luxury sports cars, expensive jewelry, he owns a lot of properties, he pays his inner circle really well. But he also has a problem, a gambling problem. He's known to visit Macau's VIP casinos, and sometimes he'll gamble away tens of millions of dollars in a single night playing Baccarat. Worst game ever. Now, between all the spending and all the gambling, he's losing a lot and he needs to come up with a way to replenish his fortune. So around 1996, he finally comes up with an idea. He could just start kidnapping some of the richest people in Hong Kong and hold them ransom. Why not do that? So he gets to work on this idea,

and he sets his sights on this guy, Kishing. Kishing is a billionaire, which in 1996 makes him one of the richest men in Asia. But kidnapping a billionaire is going to be hard. I mean, Kishin's always got a lot of security around him. So instead of targeting him, Big Spender decides to target Kishing's son. This guy, Victor Lee. Victor Lee is 31 and he works at his dad's company. Now, Big Spender knows that if he kidnaps Victor Lee,

his dad will be all distraught and he'll pay whatever ransom that he asks for. So Big Spender gets a crew of goons together and they spend weeks planning everything out. Then the big day arrives, the day of the kidnapping. So it's evening and Victor Lee is driving home from work when boom, Big Spender and a couple of his goons block the road so he has to stop his car. And Big Spender and the goons, they get out of their cars and they're armed with AK-47. and pistols, and they order Victor Lee out, and they force him into their own vehicle, and they drive him to a rural hut outside of the city. And there, they tie him up, and they tape his mouth, and they blindfold him.

Then Big Spender calls up Victor Lee's dad, Kishing, and he tells him that he's kidnapped his son, and that he's coming to meet him face-to-face, no cops. So Big Spender shows up to Kishin's mansion, alone, and he meets up with him, and his crazy ass has got a bomb, strapped to him. to his chest to ensure that no one would try anything funny. And he demands a ransom of two billion Hong Kong dollars, which is about 260 million US dollars in the 90s, which is a lot of money. But Kishing is like, no, that's too much. I'll never be able to get that much cash. So big spender says, fine, I'll take one billion. Now Kishing says he can get the billion, but that

it'll take time because that's a lot of cash to gather up so quickly. So for now, he gives him $38 million Hong Kong dollars that he has readily available inside the mansion and Big Spender takes the money and he leaves. The next day, Kishing has the rest of the cash ready and it's packed into a bunch of duffel bags and Big Spender goes back to the mansion and he picks it up. And from there, he keeps his word and he sets Victor Lee free. Now, Kishing and the family, they never, report this kidnapping to the police. I guess it has to do with honor and fear that Big Spender might come back and retaliate and fear that if the news got out, their corporate stock might drop. So, they stay silent. Meanwhile, with all this new money Big Spender just got, he starts living large again.

He takes his family on expensive vacations, he like buys more cars, and of course, he gambles ridiculous amounts of money. One time, he loses about 12 million Hong Kong dollars in a single day at a casino. That's the kind of gambler he is. He's also known to be an extremely generous tipper. Like he leaves huge tips for casino staff and hotel staff. That's actually how he got his nickname, Big Spender. Anyway, more than a year goes by, and it's now 1997.

And Big Spender, he starts thinking, well, that last kidnapping went well. why not do it again? So he looks for another billionaire to target. And here's where things start to get complicated. So Big Spender, he decides he wants to kidnap this guy, Quok. And Quack's about 46 and he's super rich. He's a well-known billionaire. So Big Spender and his goons, they plan this whole thing out.

And eventually the big day comes, the day of the second kidnapping. And it's evening. and Kwok is driving home from his office, and that is when, boom, Big Spender and his goons, they box in Quok's car and they force him to stop. Then they make him get into their car and they take him to a secluded area to a village hut. And in the hut, they order Quok to call his family and help them demand ransom. But Quack, he's like, nah, fuck that. He's not going to cooperate.

So to make him start listening, Big Spender and his goons, they strip him down to his underwear and they start beating the hell out of him. Then they lock him inside a wooden box with some air holes and they make him stay there for days. Four days later, after they beat him and tortured him enough, I guess, Kwok finally gives in and he agrees to call his wife and see if she can negotiate a ransom. So he calls his wife,

and Big Spender gets on the phone and he demands one billion Hong Kong dollars and wife negotiates it down to about 600 million. Hong Kong dollars. So Big Spender and Kwok's wife meet up and she slides him the 600 million and afterwards Big Spender releases Kwok just like he said he would. Now just like the last time, Quok's family never reports to kidnapping. Probably for the same reasons, you know, honor, embarrassment, they don't want the company stock to fall. So once again, Big Spender gets away with his crimes. And of course, he goes right back to enjoying all this new money, and gambling and traveling and probably buying more expensive cars, who knows.

So it's really starting to look like this guy is actually untouchable. Until. Now, some time passes, and it's now 1998. See, Big Spender, he likes to do this thing. Whenever he commits crimes in Hong Kong, he hides out in mainland China, because Hong Kong police don't have jurisdiction there, and they'll have trouble locating him. So it's here in the mainland where Big Spender decides to expand his criminal operations. And he purchases a ton of high explosives, like 1,800 pounds of it.

And he wants to smuggle all of these explosives into Hong Kong. That way he can blow up some government buildings, which he actually plans on doing. So he has the explosives smuggled. But what he doesn't know is that mainland intelligence gets word of this big arms deal that went down and they surveil him and his business associates and they wiretap them. Once they get the incriminating information they need, they wait for Big Spender to cross the border back into mainland China and bam, they arrest him.

Here's his mugshot. So he's charged with smuggling the explosives and he ends up getting charged with the two kidnappings. So I guess police eventually did find out. about them. Anyway, Big Spender goes to trial and he's found guilty and he gets sentenced to death. Then in the year 2000, after he's executed, he posthumously earns a Guinness World Record for demanding the largest ransom ever in a kidnapping. So, congratulations.