He may own a luxurious seven-bedroom Templestowe mansion and a sprawling 140-acre horse stable, but Tian Di spends most nights at the "office" – the private super-VIP high-roller gaming salons on the upper floors of James Packer's Crown Towers.
But Mr Tian may not be back at Crown's exclusive, swipe-card access gaming areas on the 29th and 39th floors for some time yet.
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The impact of China's raids on Crown Resorts
Elizabeth Knight comments on the potential impact to Australian businesses after a government crackdown on Crown Resort's offices in China.
Fairfax Media can reveal the Chinese-born 58-year-old was among a number of non-Crown employees detained alongside 18 of the gaming group's directly-employed staff in a series of coordinated police raids across mainland China last month.
Four Australians are among those being held, including Crown's head of VIP operations, Jason O'Connor. It is understood Mr Tian, who resides in Melbourne, has retained his Chinese passport and is not an Australian national.Â
'Disappeared off the face of the earth'
"He's disappeared off the face of the earth the last few weeks," a source familiar with Mr Tian said. "Five weeks ago he was in Macau and then he went back to [mainland] China but he hasn't been sighted since."
A baldpate with an often aloof demeanour, Mr Tian is one of Crown's most lucrative private junket operators, effectively a middleman who recommends wealthy Chinese high rollers in return for a commission.Â
He is also an influential figure in the horseracing industry, acting as a conduit for prospective Chinese horse owners arriving at Australian thoroughbred auctions flush with cash. In 2013, Mr Tian paid $6 million for what is now the Nine Dragons Horse Club, run by his daughter Sisly.
Located by Chelsea Beach, it boasts 120 stables, a 2200-metre grass racetrack and a lavish clubhouse overlooking a lake. Mr Tian and Nine Dragons retain close ties with highly acquisitive Chinese horse stable Yulong, owned by Zhang Yuesheng.
The Nine Dragons clubhouse in Bangholme, near Chelsea Beach. Photo: supplied
Luring high-stakes gamblers
Associates of Mr Tian began to notice a dramatic change in how he looked and dressed about two years ago. Almost overnight, he ditched his bookish business attire for designer T-shirts and shoes. He shaved his balding head clean, took to wearing sunglasses, and began rolling into Nine Dragons in different top-of-the-line cars, including Bentleys and a Mercedes-AMG.
"They were seriously expensive machines," one source said.
While he is not a direct employee of Crown, industry sources familiar with Mr Tian have detailed his close connections to the casino's VIP operations.
Crown Casino's private super-VIP gaming salons on the 29th and 39th floors opened in 2011. Photo: supplied
He is provided with a premium VIP suite to live in when entertaining his junket clients, and arranges for the casino's private helicopter to ferry clients to and from Nine Dragons.
His often rambunctious clientele typify the high-stakes gamblers with money to burn, with one colourful Wuhan identity promptly losing $20 million in a session without batting an eyelid, before lifting his shirt up to show scars from what he said were gunshot wounds.Â
$1 million betting chips
Mr Tian's daughter Sisly is usually seen by her father's side at Crown, helping him with anything that needs translation from English. One social media post shows her flaunting $1 million Crown betting chips in the casino's private salons. When reached by Fairfax Media via telephone, Ms Tian declined to comment before hanging up.
Tian Di's daughter, Sisly Tian (right), holds up $1 million Crown betting chips in the casino's exclusive private salon. Photo: supplied
​Born in Wuhan, in central Hubei province, Mr Tian is one of several migrants from the same hometown who wield significant influence in gambling circles, including another major junket provider to Crown, who has at least two staff members in detention in mainland China.
It is understood Mr Tian used to work with the major operator before striking it alone more recently. Both are also known to organise junkets with Sydney's The Star, though most of their business goes to Crown.
Powerful connections
Together with other hometown investors, Mr Tian owns a share of the former Equity Chambers building on Melbourne's Bourke Street. Purchased for $15 million in 2013, the site is being redeveloped into residential apartments. It currently houses the Hubei Association of Melbourne and the Australian Hubei Chamber of Commerce, led by Mike Yang, a young and well-connected Labor Party operative who advises the Andrews government on multicultural affairs.
Mr Yang, who was also born in Wuhan, is known to be close to Tian Di. He is also close to Senator Sam Dastyari, who was demoted from the opposition front bench after accepting payment for legal and travel costs from prominent Chinese political donors, before contradicting his party's stance on the South China Sea dispute in a press conference organised for local Chinese-language media by donor Huang Xiangmo.
Andrews government adviser Mike Yang (left) with Tian Di (right) and Sisly Tian (second from right) at the Spring Racing Carnival last year. Photo: supplied
Both Mr Yang and Senator Dastyari attended the wedding of Mr Huang's daughter in January, along with former trade minister Andrew Robb, opposition leader Bill Shorten and other politicians including Chris Bowen and Ernest Wong. Mr Yang declined to comment.
Chinese police are expected to formally lay charges on those in detention within the next three weeks. The charges are expected to relate to the promotion and organisation of gambling activities, though the crackdown has also come amid a broader anti-corruption blitz targeting money laundering and illicit money transfers offshore.Â
As previously revealed by Fairfax Media, communications documenting the movement of millions of dollars are also in the hands of mainland authorities following the police seizure of computers, laptops and mobile phones belonging to Crown Resorts' 18 detained employees.Â
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