A TAXI driver who disappeared eight years ago had huge losses at Star City Casino and might have been trying to blackmail the then Australian general manager of the Bank of China, Glebe Coroner's Court heard yesterday.

Qing Yue Chen, then aged 40, parked his car at the casino on October 24, 2000, and 15 minutes later called a friend on his mobile phone from Chinatown. The friend could not get sensible answers from him, there were muffled voices in the background and Mr Chen has not been seen since.

An inquest into his disappearance, before coroner Hugh Dillon, heard yesterday that Mr Chen might have met the Bank of China executive, Fugen Chen (no relation), after Qing Chen told him he had information about an affair Fugen Chen had had with his secretary, Lin (Lucy) Lan.

A former detective initially in charge of the case, Craig Mills, said information had been received through Crime Stoppers that in discussions between Qing Chen and Fugen Chen, figures of $10,000 or $20,000 had been mentioned.

The informant told Crime Stoppers that Fugen Chen agreed to a private meeting with Qing Chen, despite the fact he had never met Qing Chen before. The one connection was that Qing Chen was a one-time boyfriend of Ms Lan.

Mr Mills said he was surprised that a high-ranking executive such as Fugen Chen would have agreed to a meeting. When questioned about it, Fugen Chen said the taxi driver had wanted to talk about patching up relations with Ms Lan, and that there was no extortion or blackmail.

A second caller to Crime Stoppers said another person, Augustine Chan, might have had something to do with the disappearance. The informant said Mr Chan had serious criminal connections and had the reputation of being able to "fix things", such as make people go "missing".

Mr Mills said Mr Chan was well-known to the East Asia Crime Squad and had been implicated in people smuggling and money laundering. The Bank of China had funded several of his restaurants.

Mr Dillon heard that Qing Chen had been a gambling addict and although he earned only about $70,000 to $80,000 a year driving, had put more than $1 million through the casino between 1986 and 2000, losing $366,722. There was no evidence he had obtained money from illicit sources.

Mr Mills said Ms Lan had told police that in 1999 Qing Chen had said he owed between $200,000 and $300,000 over his gambling debts and had received messages to pay up. He had borrowed $20,000 from Ms Lan and similar amounts from others.

Mr Mills thought that Qing Chen may have fallen victim to loan sharks hovering around the high rollers' room, which he had frequented as a gold member.

"My considered view is that given the fact that he was gambling well above his means, he might have taken the opportunity to extort some money from the Bank of China," he said.

After Qing Chen vanished, Ms Lan was transferred to the Haymarket branch and then to Melbourne. Detective Senior Constable David Willey said Fugen Chen had left Australia in 2006 and was in China. Mr Chan had left on August 27 last year and had not returned. Ms Lan's husband, Ji Yun Tang, a suspected people smuggler, was subject of an arrest warrant and had probably skipped the country.

The inquest resumes today.