An Financial Times (FT) investigation into cyber crime has raised questions over what due diligence was carried out in the King Gaming saga.

The video documentary ‘Scammers, Spies and Triads’ highlights the Isle of man as an example how criminal online gambling business was run in parallel with online fraud.

It recounts how properties were raided in the UK and Isle of Man in October as part of a US-led operation against Prince Group and its chairman Chen Zei.

The FT documentary says the Prince Group wasn’t the only Chinese company in the island involved in online gambling and alleged money laundering - and tells how King Gaming was courted by the Manx authorities.

Investigative journalist at the FT, Cynthia O’Murchu, said: ‘King Gaming had said it was going to bring hundreds of new jobs into the island. However, these plans didn’t come to fruition.

‘A court in China had convicted a number of people who worked with an IoM company that was linked to king Gaming and it convicted them on grounds they had committed investment fraud.

‘This activity had actually taken part, according to Chinese court records, from 2019 to 2022 i.e. all the way through when the administration of the Isle of Man was really pushing for King Gaming and King Gaming was expanding in the Isle of Man.

‘So, it really raises a lot of questions around the due diligence. How much oversight really was there and what due diligence was done on the individuals who came onto the island and did work from there?’

Developer Jade Tree Ltd secured planning consent on appeal in December 2022 to build a £70m headquarters and parkland campus development for King Gaming on the former Cunningham’s holiday camp site on Victoria Road - billed as being the single largest private investment ever seen in the Isle of Man.

The ‘iconic’ development was to provide offices for around 330 staff predominantly from South East Asia, with accommodation for up to 150 who would live and work on site.

In a letter to the planning inquiry in support of the proposal, the Department for Enterprise described the scheme as a one of ‘quality and ambition’, with the considerable investment providing a ‘new home for a highly skilled, highly productive workforce’.

As the FT documentary shows, King Gaming was owned by a Chinese and Dominican national named Liang Lingfei, aka Bill Morgan, who is alleged to be linked to major criminal figures in Asia including sanctioned Triad leaders.

He hasn’t been convicted of crime in the island. The FT said it had not been able to reach him for a comment.

Police raided premises linked to King Gaming in April last year. A number of arrests were made.

The FT documentary also highlights how the Isle of Man saw a business opportunity when the Philippines cracked down on illegal offshore gambling operations - believing it to be a way to attract’ credible operators’ here.

Digital Isle of Man funded an exploratory visit to Manila but abandoned the proposal in the wake of media coverage.