bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sponsorType

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Cliff Buddle

LORRAIN OSMAN, who was jailed for his part in the Carrian scandal in 1993 after a costly seven-year extradition battle, is still being pursued by the Government for more than $6 million in outstanding legal costs.

Solicitors have been hired in London by the Secretary for Justice in an attempt to recover GBP565,000 (HK$6.5 million) which has still not been paid.

Mr Osman, 68, a qualified lawyer and former chairman of Bumiputra Malaysia Finance Ltd, was allowed to leave Hong Kong after serving only 53 days of a 12-month sentence in 1993.

He had admitted conspiracy to defraud involving loans of US$292 million (HK$2.3 billion), in a prosecution which followed the collapse of George Tan Soon-gin's Carrian Group with debts of almost US$1 billion in 1983.

Controversy surrounded his departure because he was being allowed to leave while owing the Government GBP1 million in costs arising from the marathon legal battle.

Attempts to recover the debt have been continuing ever since, but only GBP435,000 has been paid so far.

A government spokesman said: 'The Secretary for Justice has engaged solicitors in London to pursue the recovery of the outstanding legal costs of GBP565,000.

'The outstanding sum was the balance of the costs of GBP1 million payable by Mr Osman to the Secretary for Justice under various orders for costs in relation to various proceedings in the UK, Malaysia and Hong Kong.'

Mr Osman, who switched his Hong Kong prison cell for a plush home in the St John's Wood area of London, was declared bankrupt in Britain on March 11 last year, according to the Department of Justice spokesman.

An independent 'trustee in bankruptcy' has been appointed, with the responsibility for investigating and recovering any assets available.

The spokesman said: 'The Secretary for Justice has filed a proof of debt with the trustee. The matter is still on-going . . . and it is anticipated that the bankruptcy proceedings will take some time to conclude.

'The amount that the Secretary for Justice ultimately receives will depend on the amount recovered by the trustee and the claims of other creditors.'

Mr Osman fought an unprecedented seven-year extradition battle, to avoid being sent back to Hong Kong from London, making 10 habeas corpus applications.

The extradition finally took place in late 1992 and he entered a guilty plea on June 25, 1993.

Mr Osman had originally faced more than 30 charges of fraud and corruption concerning unauthorised loans made by Bumiputra Malaysia Finance Ltd to part of the Carrian Group.

But his guilty plea to a single charge of conspiracy to defraud, committed between 1979 and 1983, was eventually accepted by the prosecution and his sentence took account of the time he had spent behind bars in Britain while fighting extradition.

It was agreed that Mr Osman would pay the costs of bringing him to justice.

The debt he owes relates to the long battle to return him from London, evidence-gathering in Malaysia and the proceedings in Hong Kong.



Carrian scandal figure owes $6.5m