Loo Choon Beng, 58, a Singaporean businessman who was reportedly behind the first high-tech baccarat casino scam in the Philippines was found dead on his hotel room bed in Guangzhou, China on Aug 3 or 4, said his close friend.

According to another source who attended the funeral in Guangzhou, Loo had either died in his sleep or from complications arising from health problems, which included diabetes and high cholesterol. It is believed that only very close friends and a few family members attended Loo's funeral.

According to Philippines media reports, Loo, who called himself Ben Lui and sometimes identified as Malaysian, was charged in Manila with running a gambling syndicate, along with three accomplices.

They had allegedly used hidden cameras to cheat at baccarat games in three casinos run by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp (Pagcor), and the those three government-run casinos lost 160 million pesos (S$4.5 million).

All of the members of the syndicate posted bail and fled the country, said the media report. The scam has been the subject of an ongoing debate in the Philippines' House of Representatives' Committee on Justice and Committee on Games and Amusement.

Loo has been in trouble with the law before. In 2000, he was held under Malaysia's preventive detention laws for alleged involvement with syndicates fixing the outcome of horse races at Malaysian turf clubs.

In 1988, he was accused to spitting in a Singapore Airlines stewardess' face after she accidentally spilt a drink on him, as well as using violence on her. In 1995, he was suspended from legal practice for three years for misconduct. In 1996, Loo was sued by OCBC Bank twice -- for being unable to repay loans.