THE firm convicted in Hong Kong's first successful corporate manslaughter case is to use its own staff to carry out a court-ordered audit of its finances.
The investigation was ordered by Mr Justice Duffy on Monday after the company, Ajax Engineers and Surveyors (AES), said its assets had plunged from $2.9 million in 1993 to $100,000 earlier this year.
AES is facing an unlimited fine after it admitted failing to carry out proper safety checks on a builders' lift which plunged to the ground killing 12 workers in June 1993.
Mr Justice Duffy said he wanted a statement prepared by June 12 showing the firm's assets and liabilities.
Last night Kasim Moosa, a former director of AES who is now a director of sister company Ajax and Partners, confirmed the audit would be done by in-house staff rather than an independent consultant. 'One auditing clerk will do the work. He is used to doing this kind of thing,' he said.
Mr Moosa, whose son, Hassan, is a shareholder in parent company Ajax Prosperity, said the clerk would be helped by AES director Stephen Lo King-wing.