FOR a few bizarre hours, Canadian consultant John Hall became entangled in the frenzied Barings trading scandal.
With the international hunt for Nick Leeson gathering pace and rumours flying that the fugitive was in Singapore, Frankfurt, Hong Kong or Canada, Mr Hall found himself an interrogated quarry, fending off charges that he was trying to flee to safety.
It might have been his age; at 28, he is the same age as the maverick derivatives dealer.
But what probably most attracted media attention was his uncanny resemblance to the five-year-old picture of Leeson that has been plastered across newspapers throughout the world in the past few days. And once journalists discovered that Mr Hall's name was uncommonly similar to Leeson's apparent alias - British tabloids had suggested the banker was travelling under the name of John Halls - his chances of going unnoticed were remote.
Whatever their reasons, people started stalking him.
'As I was leaving Bangkok, the press happened to catch on to the fact that my name is John Hall,' he said at Kai Tak airport yesterday.