He was said to be the “go to” man for a loan, if you were of Chinese descent and wanted to do business in Denmark.
A former Singaporean, Copenhagen restaurant owner Roland Tan left for Denmark some time in the late ’60s or early ’70s to start a new life. There, he found new friends, including — the Danish media claimed — members of the criminal underworld.
His prominence in the triads gave him the nickname “Mr Big”, according to the Danish press, which also claimed that Mr Tan was wanted by the Singapore police and Interpol for murder and drug-related activities. None of this could be verified by either agency as of press time.
Shot at Birthday Party
On Monday night (early Tuesday, Singapore time), Mr Tan, 61, was chatting in his Restaurant Bali with his 53-year-old Singaporean friend when an intruder barged into the empty joint and started to argue with him.
According to some reports, the dispute was over a gambling debt. The disgruntled man, whom Danish police identified as convicted heroin peddler Nguyen Phi Hung, 47, then fired four rounds at the men.
Mr Tan was hit in the shoulder and is recovering at the Copenhagen University Hospital, while his unidentified friend — who arrived only two days prior to the attack — was shot in the stomach and is in critical condition.
According to Inspector Ove Dahl, who heads Copenhagen’s homicide team, both men were standing at the restaurant bar at about 7pm when the suspect walked in. The restaurant was closed for a private birthday party which both men were due to attend hours later.
The suspected gunman is still on the run.
Personal Motive
Calling Mr Tan the “most powerful Chinese businessman in Denmark”, the Danish media quickly latched on to his alleged mob connections.
According to the Ekstra Bladet, Mr Tan’s Restaurant Bali, which serves Chinese and Indonesian food in a tourist area, was popular with underworld figures. The paper also claimed that soon after he was wheeled into hospital, “about 40 representatives of the criminal underworld” turned up at the lobby.
But Inspector Dahl rubbished the claims of Mr Tan’s mob links.
“As far as we know, the motive is personal,” Inspector Dahl has said.
Inspector Dahl and his team of 20 officers have interviewed restaurant staff and Mr Tan, who will be discharged soon.
Inspector Dahl added that the authorities were in touch with their Singaporean counterparts to track down the next-of-kin of Mr Tan’s as-yet-unnamed guest. But he declined to comment when asked if Danish police would hand Mr Tan over, if the Singapore police wanted him back.
