Judge rejects bid to halt proceedings after head of troubled company refuses to declare finances

The chairman of UDL Holdings Ltd was declared bankrupt yesterday as the judge expressed grave concerns about his unwillingness to disclose his finances.

The bankruptcy declaration throws into doubt Leung Yat-tung's position at the troubled engineering company.

Mr Justice Peter Cheung Chak-yau rejected Mr Leung's application for an interim order to stop proceedings, saying full disclosure of his finances should be the starting point for such an application.

'Having regard to the approach taken by the debtor and the intended nominees, I have grave doubts on the candour of the debtor,' he said in the Court of First Instance. 'I am not prepared to exercise the discretion in making an interim order so as to put forward a proposal to the creditors.'

The Healthy Wharf Ltd company filed a bankruptcy petition against Mr Leung earlier this year after he failed to repay a $4 million loan for which he acted as guarantor for an unnamed company.

In the lead up to the hearing, Healthy Wharf pressed Mr Leung to make a full disclosure of his financial situation and rejected his suggestion to pay off his debt in installments.

Mr Leung claimed he needed the interim order to buy enough time to reach a mediated agreement to repay his creditors. Mr Justice Cheung also said contentions Mr Leung raised during the hearing were 'artificial to the extreme'.