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Tom Wright Profile picture
@TomWrightAsia
May 15, 2023 • 11 tweets • 4 min read • Read on X
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When the saxophonist Kenny G snapped a photo with pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong in 2014, China's government branded him a spy. To get out of the fix, Kenny put in a call to pro-Beijing actor Jackie Chan ...🧵 Image
To understand this crazy story, you've got to know that Kenny G is perhaps the best known Western artist in China. His song, "Going Home" comes on when shopping malls close and when planes land. Adam Wilkes, Kenny's promoter, was on a plane once with Kenny...
So when Kenny stepped out of his hotel in Hong Kong in 2014, he was instantly recognized by pro-democracy protesters who had taken over the city. He stopped to take photos, including this one, which he put on Facebook. Image
China's government was furious with Kenny G. "We hope that foreign governments and individuals speak and act cautiously and not support the Occupy Central and other illegal activities in any form," a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said.
Kenny G didn't know what to do. In a panic, he called Adam Wilkes, his promoter. But Adam was sleeping...and so...Kenny called his friend, kung-fu legend Jackie Chan.
Jackie Chan, an ardent pro-Beijing voice, told Kenny to take the post down. He did so, but then was attacked by pro-democracy supporters. Finally Adam got a hold of him and they crafted a ploy to get out of the fix.
Adam was with Bjork when she shouted "Tibet!" at a concert in Shanghai. He was touring Taylor Swift in China when her "TS 1989" concert was mistaken by officials as a reference to Tiananmen Square, and Katy Perry when she inadvertently draped herself in a Taiwanese flag.
But no one expected this kind of trouble from Kenny G and his inoffensive brand of soft jazz. Go inside Kenny's China problems on the latest episode of NIGHT OF SHOW, available now on @ApplePodcasts
podcasts.apple.com/sg/podcast/nig…
Other listening options for Night of Show here: nightofshow.com
Image
Got some really dope episodes of NIGHT OF SHOW coming up: Next week, Michael Jackson escapes to Thailand as the world's press follows in hot pursuit...and episode six...it's a secret...Subscribers to Brazen+ on @ApplePodcasts can access all episodes now.

podcasts.apple.com/sg/podcast/nig…

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More from @TomWrightAsia

Tom Wright Profile picture
Oct 15
1/ The global elites and financiers we exposed are now under threat. For two years, we've unraveled a criminal empire that has stolen billions from Americans. Today, Western governments are closing in. This is a reporter's notebook. A thread 🧵 Image
2/ It began with a single, bizarre detail. A South African stock scammer bought a $30M private jet for a Cambodian princeling. Why? It felt like a curiosity, a glimpse into a world of dirty money we couldn't yet understand. The trail went cold. whalehunting.projectbrazen.com/private-jets-c…Image
3/ Two years later, our "ghost" resurfaced. He was now a close aide to former Thai PM Thaksin Shinawatra. This wasn't a small-time fraud. This was a criminal operating in the highest circles of power. We knew we had a pattern. whalehunting.projectbrazen.com/rich-list-the-…Image
Read 19 tweets
Tom Wright Profile picture
Oct 2
Earlier this year, Sam Altman rolled out his identification crypto Worldcoin project in Bangkok -- but local authorities had concerns about scanning people's irises for crypto rewards. Enter a mysterious South African criminal called Benjamin Mauerberger to smooth the way. 1/7 👇 Image
2. Altman connected to Mauerberger, who promised to get Thailand's ruling Shinawatra family to support Worldcoin's controversial mission. He delivered: Altman's co-founder took the stage with former Thai PM Thaksin Shinawatra at a major event. But who was Mauerberger? Image
3. In reality, Mauerberger was the front for a $1.5B criminal network that forced Asian workers to scam Americans with fake crypto investment schemes. He relied on Thaksin, for whom he supplied a private jet and a Rolls Royce, to give him political cover. Here they are meeting. Image
Read 7 tweets
Tom Wright Profile picture
Sep 30
🚨 Sam Altman’s Worldcoin got caught in a $1.5B China-linked scam network fleecing Americans—unwittingly tied to criminals. Brazen’s bombshell scoop: #Worldcoin #CryptoScams 👇1/6 Image
Sam Altman partnered for Worldcoin's launch in Bangkok with a company linked to Benjamin Mauerberger, a South African front for a global criminal network that scams Americans out of their life savings. (No evidence Altman knew of the criminal connections.) 2/6 Image
Mauerberger’s criminal network had the protection of ex-Thai PM Thaksin Shinawatra (for whom he bought a $60M private jet). When Altman's co-founder Alex Blania came to Thailand for Worldcoin’s launch, he shared the stage with Thaksin at a high-profile event. 3/6 Image
Read 6 tweets
Tom Wright Profile picture
Sep 26
The $1.5 billion Chinese-Cambodian criminal network we've exposed has a dark secret: the yachts, planes and NYC luxury penthouses are funded by trafficked workers and American victims. This compound is where is all starts 🧵 1/ Image
This is the Long Bay project in Cambodia. It was supposed to be a Chinese-financed luxury tourism, residential, and office project. It failed -- and instead its offices are home to scam centers, where trafficked workers are compelled to scam U.S. victims. 2/ Image
Long Bay's developer is Chinese-owned Zhengheng in partnership with BIC Bank. As we've reported BIC is owned by Yim Leak, a Cambodian kingpin at the heart of the $1.5B network fronted by South African criminal Benjamin Mauerberger. Here they are together. 3/ Image
Read 9 tweets
Tom Wright Profile picture
Sep 11
This guy is the new Jho Low, just white and with a Cambodian diplomatic passport. Moving billions via shell companies. Protected by powerful leaders. Likes his private jets and yachts. And now he's hunted by U.S. intelligence. Here's his story. 1/13 Image
Meet Benjamin Mauerberger, 47, from a prominent Jewish family in South Africa. He sold worthless stocks to mom and pop investors in the U.S., Europe and Australia. Like the 2000 movie "Boiler Room." But then authorities in the West came after him, so he holed up in Bangkok. 2/13 Image
People in Bangkok expat circles knew him as a friendly guy in finance. But then things changed: he bought an orange McLaren, a $20 million apartment on "Billionaire's Row" in Manhattan, and a $100 million superyacht called "Wanderlust." What had changed? 3/13 Image
Read 13 tweets
Tom Wright Profile picture
Sep 5
This guy is the new Jho Low, just white and with a Cambodian diplomatic passport. Moving hundreds of millions of dollars via shell companies. Protected by powerful leaders (Thaksin, Hun Sen). Likes his private jets and yachts. Here's his story. Image
Meet Benjamin Mauerberger, a 47-year-old South African, wanted for boiler room stock frauds in London and NZ dating back 25 years. He reappears as "Ben Smith" in Cambodia, a country known for washing Chinese money via casinos/land. He becomes friends with the Deputy PM's son. Image
Mauerberger is useful (like Jho Low) as he knows how to move money around the world via shells: BVIs, Dubai, Singapore. He uses his Thai-British wife, a former model, to move hundreds of millions of dollars coming out of their Chinese-related business in Cambodia. Image
Read 10 tweets

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