wmlro.com: No evidence of foul play, says OCC
You know how it is: see OCC and you immediately think Orange County... well, yes. But it's the other Orange County: the one in California not the one near Woodstock, and it's the coroner not the Choppers that we are talking about. And the foul play that is not suspected? It's in connection with the death of Danny Pang over the weekend.
Danny Pang arrived from Taiwan and became rich and famous - plus marginally infamous.
He married a club dancer - and some years later called in the police because someone was trying to blackmail him with pictures of his wife's former life.
Then, about a dozen years ago, his wife was shot dead in their home. Pang was tried and found not guilty. No one else has been tried for the offence.
But that was not the end of his troubles. Authorities investigated him, suspecting him of laundering for a Taiwanese Triad. They never brought charges.
But early this year, the SEC accused him of milking an investment fund Private Equity Management Group (PEMGroup). Then it froze the accounts of the firm and took it into receivership.
The SEC alleges that he took in excess of USD80 million in salary and other benefits from the investments and court filed papers say that some have accused him of using the firm as his own private piggy bank.
Then things got worse: he was charged with failing to report cash transactions - a money laundering offence although he was not charged with laundering per se. It was alleged that he failed to report transactions of some USD300 million.
In the absence of evidence, the FBI also alleged that he had a secret safe in which he hid a substantial quantity of gold. Pang denied it: the FBI have not been able to back up their claim.
On Saturday, the Pang story took another bizarre turn. He was found barely alive by paramedics who went to his home. There is no information as to why they would go there. They took him to hospital where he was revived. And then died.
No cause of death was given. There will be a post-mortem examination - and a full toxicity screen. That, says the Orange County Coroner, could take several months to get results from proving that the TV versions of forensic examiners perform miracles on a daily basis.
Danny Pang may be dead, but his story is far from over.
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