THE full force of the legal system landed feather light on George Tan Soon-gin's shoulders on Friday when he was sentenced for his part in the largest corporate collapse in Hong Kong's history.
The $1.8 billion Carrian scandal helped to perpetuate Hong Kong's image as a haven for financial cowboys and has undermined international confidence in the territory to this day.
For this, Mr Tan was sentenced to three years, marginally less than a petty thief might expect from the territory's courts.
More than that, Mr Tan avoided the $200 million costs incurred during the 13 years which it took to bring him to what must laughingly be called justice.
That is $200 million of taxpayers money down the drain - $66.6 million for every year of the sentence, or $18,000 a day. It would have been cheaper to put Mr Tan up in The Peninsula.
Perhaps the most worrying aspect of the sentencing is as follows.
Mr Tan has been banned for five years from acting as a company director. So, come 2001, the boardroom of a locally-listed property company may once again be suffused with the aroma of his ever-present Davidoff cigar.