Paraguay may beckon for freed Tan

The hills of Paraguay could beckon for Hong Kong's most notorious businessman, George Tan Soon-gin, following his release from custody in Queen Elizabeth Hospital today.

Tan, 63, holds a passport for the landlocked South American state and his rights to Hong Kong residency remain in doubt, said officials close to the $1.8 billion Carrian scandal - the biggest corporate collapse in Hong Kong's history.

Tan is expected to be released before noon at the end of his three-year sentence for conspiracy to defraud.

The Immigration Department has yet to make a request to Correctional Services for his deportation but was aware of his release.

'It is a very grey area in regard to Mr Tan. He may face further Immigration Department questioning to clear up certain matters,' one official said.

'Further detention before any formal removal or deportation is a possibility under the law . . . the length of his sentence certainly qualifies for such action.' The nationality confusion is a fitting end to the saga for Tan, who was spared paying the $210 million spent by the Government in a 13-year battle to bring him to justice in Hong Kong's most expensive court case.

The former Carrian boss eventually admitted conspiracy to defraud involving US$238 million (HK$1.84 billion) in secret loans obtained by the Carrian property empire from Malaysian Bank Bumiputra.