[3] Chong came to the U.S. from Hong Kong in 1982, ostensibly to start a Chinese opera company, but was accused in court documents of becoming the boss of the Wo Hop To (和合圖) crime syndicate in northern California, a gang involved in loan sharking and extorting protection money from restaurants and gambling dens.
[5] A US Senate report in December 1992 stated "the Wo Hop To is now in control of virtually all Asian organized crime in the Bay Area.
This was a first step in an effort to form an umbrella organization called Tien Ha Wui ("Whole Earth Association") that would dominate crime in Chinatowns throughout the U.S.[5] After the underling was killed in the Boston Chinatown massacre, prosecutors alleged that Chong along with Wayne Kwong and Raymond "Shrimp Boy" Chow were behind a failed plot to murder Boston Chinese underground leader Bike Ming.
[10][11] In 2002, Chong was found guilty of racketeering, murder-for-hire, extortion, and arson,[12] and was sentenced to 15 years and eight months in prison.
Circuit Court of Appeals due to a lack of monetary payment to the killers, evidence of proof of involvement was taken to support additional prison time for the racketeering charge.