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Cliff Buddle

Ewan Launder would not be the first Carrian scandal convict to be struck ill during the long battle to bring culprits to justice.

 The marathon legal battles arising from the Carrian affair have taken their toll on the health of at least three others who appeared before the courts.

 Launder, it was revealed yesterday, may be suffering from a medical problem which is to be investigated before he is sentenced.

 His barrister, Alexander King, had told the judge of the stress and anxiety experienced by Launder in relation to the case.

 Lorrain Osman, former chairman of Bumiputra Malaysia Finance Ltd (BMFL), which was the Carrian Group's biggest lender, was suffering from poor health when jailed for a year in 1993 for a US$292 million (HK$2.26 billion) fraud conspiracy.

 The sentencing judge was told Osman had suffered a minor stroke, had a heart condition, a number of uncomfortable minor ailments and was depressed.

 The deterioration of his health had been attributed to the Carrian affair and the ensuing legal battle.

 Rais Saniman, former director of BMFL, sentenced to five years' jail in 1995 for a US$238 million fraud plot, was also struck by illness after his arrest.

 The sentencing judge was told Saniman had become a shadow of his former self. The shock of being arrested and the extradition battle that followed were said to have left him 'like a zombie', paralysed by anxiety and paranoia.

 Doctors claimed the stress of a long trial could have been a death sentence for former Carrian Group boss George Tan Soon-gin.

 Tan was jailed for three years in 1996 when he admitted fraud charges involving $238 million.

 During his court hearing, he swallowed tablets to reduce stress on his heart. A heart specialist said at the time that Tan had only a one-in-five chance of surviving until 1999.

 A neurology expert said a stroke suffered by Tan in 1992 had damaged part of his brain, leaving him irritable, depressed, paranoid and subject to mood swings.



Culprits suffer Carrian disease