HONG KONG -- Reputed Hong Kong crime boss Cheung Tze-keung was executed in China early Saturday in a kidnapping and gun-running case that raised issues about legal jurisdiction between Hong Kong and the mainland.
Cheung, 43, alias "Big Spender," was put to death immediately after losing his appeal, China's official news agency reported.His death by gunshot came one day after he got his final wish: a final visit from his two young sons.
Four accomplices -- Chan Chi-ho, Ma Shangzhong, Liang Hui and Chin Hon-sau -- also were executed by gunshot after a court hearing that lasted an hour and a half, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
Henchmen Chu Yuk-sing and Li Wan were given suspended death sentences, which might later be converted to prison terms.
Cheung and his mainland lawyers appealed his convictions after the death penalty was handed down on Nov. 15, on grounds that included Cheung's "meritorious cooperation during the investigation," Xinhua said.
Cheung's mainland lawyers also had questioned the jurisdiction of mainland courts over crimes committed in Hong Kong, which has a more open court system and imposes no death penalty.
But the Guangdong Higher Court upheld the verdicts, saying Cheung and his gang used mainland Chinese bases "to plot, plan, and prepare for crimes later committed in Hong Kong."
Cheung and his gang members were tried behind closed doors for spectacular crimes including smuggling of dynamite and guns from China into Hong Kong, armed robbery of gold stores and the theft of 277 tons of steel. At least one person was killed in the crime spree, during the steel heist.