Remengesau told OCCRP he was introduced to the triad figure by Wang Guodan, another longtime Chinese expatriate in Palau. Also known as Rose Wang, she worked with Tian as the vice chairman of his Palau Overseas Chinese Federation, according to Chinese media reports. She also attended the CCP’s 70-year celebration with him in Beijing in 2019, and was added alongside him to the Palauan government’s “undesirable aliens” list earlier this year.
In a brief phone interview, Wang denied any connection to Wan, Tian’s association, or any CCP-related activities. She did not respond to written follow-up questions.
Remengesau’s predecessor as president, Toribiong, said he believed “Broken Tooth” and his associates were guests of Remengesau in Palau.
“When Broken Tooth came they were like VIPs, they had a lot of meetings,” Toribiong said, adding that he too had met the triad figure.
Remengesau, who stepped down last year, denied he had invited Wan to the country, and told OCCRP he was unaware how the triad figure had been listed as a “guest of the government” when he visited in 2018. The former president said Wang had only briefly introduced him to the triad figure and that he had posed for a photo. But he insisted, “That is the only time I sat down with him.”
On Angaur island, the prospective casino site, Wan was assisted in his attempt to lease some land by the island’s then-governor, Kennosuke Suzuky..
“He was dealing with me directly,” Suzuky told OCCRP, adding that he did not know that Wan was a senior organized crime figure until later, when “I Googled his name.”
“We didn’t know who he was,” agreed Jackson Henry, a local property broker who helped Wan look for real estate on the main island of Babeldaob. Palauans only became aware of Wan’s organized crime ties when he started publicizing his casino plans, Henry said.
“These guys are not here to do anything bad. They’re not convicted, except for Broken Tooth,” Henry added. “But it’s really bad about society, where you go to jail, you pay your dues to society. When you get out… you can’t do anything.”
Remengesau, for his part, said he turned firmly against Wan once he became aware of his background. By April 2019, he announced that he was opposed to the project, after being informed by Taiwan’s government of Wan’s criminal background. The Palau Hongmen Association applied to be voluntarily dissolved shortly thereafter.
‘They Know It’s a Scam’
While Wan is not known to have arrived in Palau until 2018, another figure connected to him had already pitched big plans for the small country.
Zhang Bauluo, a Singapore-based businessman, showed up in 2016 and made the rounds in prominent political circles. Through his GT Group, Zhang said he wanted to launch businesses including a $1 billion “smart city,” a blockchain-based insurance scheme, and a bank.
Zhang and Wan are part of the same business circles in Southeast Asia and the Pacific, but the exact nature of their relationship is unclear, organized crime expert Tower said.
The two men have appeared in public together at property development and blockchain events in the region, including a 2018 conference organized by Zhang’s GT Group in the Philippines at which Wan was a guest. Wan took to the stage with Zhang and others at the event and raised wine glasses for the cameras.
