Chinese tycoon Liu Han's Australian faces

Big Spender

With Hanlong in control of Moly Mines and looking for more investment targets, Liu was a regular visitor to Perth and other state capitals.

To his local staff, the head of the biggest privately held group in Sichuan appeared to be a stereotype of a cashed-up mainland tycoon - one former employee noted a diamond-encrusted, custom-made Franck Muller watch on his wrist.

When Liu entertained, he routinely ordered the most expensive French wines, spending more than $12,000 on a bottle of wine in Sydney, according to former staff. One former manager recalls Liu spending $100,000 on wine in one meal.

And, he was passionate about cars. Liu boasted that he had a fleet of 80 luxury vehicles, according to staff from his Chinese and Australian companies. A former executive at one of Liu's companies said the tycoon owned a Lamborghini SuperVeloce China, a limited edition sports car specially designed for wealthy Chinese buyers with a distinctive orange stripe through the middle of the body.

Liu's greatest passion was gambling, his Australian and Chinese staff say, staying at the tables until dawn and then sleeping until mid-day. He was a regular at Crown casinos in Perth and Melbourne. He sometimes complained when he lost heavily, but always claimed he recovered his losses on subsequent visits. In Perth, he often stayed in Crown's presidential suite, former staff and advisors say.

At his trial, Liu admitted losing $128 million in Macao, $15 million in the United States, $9 million in Singapore and about $1 million in Australia, according to prosecutors. "I was unwilling to leave gambling tables, either when I was winning or losing money," Liu testified, according to official reports of his trial. "If I win, I want to win more. If I lose, I want to recover my losses. I would only leave when I lost all my chips."

Australian executives who visited him on business trips to Chengdu, where the Hanlong group has its headquarters, and other cities in China, say Liu's routine typically involved short meetings followed by long lunches or dinners in private rooms at restaurants or hotels. "There would be lots of people running around and lots of courses," says John McEvoy, Moly Mines' former chief financial officer, who traveled in China with Liu.

To former Moly Mines staffer, mainland-born Xu Chuanmei, Liu appeared to be intelligent, well-educated and avoided business jargon in his Sichuan-accented Chinese. Liu speaks little or no English and always used an interpreter while overseas.

"He likes to put things in a simple way," she says, adding that Liu often travelled with his own supplies of Sichuan food and condiments.

Eventually, Liu's plans for Moly Mines were frustrated as stubbornly low molybdenum prices undermined the viability of the company's deposit. Most of the executive team at the company when Hanlong took control have since left or been replaced.