Chim Pui-chung is planning a comeback to the corporate boardroom, six years after he was jailed for a forgery plot and four years after he was barred by a judge from having anything to do with his own company, Mandarin Resources.
The disgraced legislator - who brought Hong Kong one of its longest-running regulatory sagas in the form of a 14-year spat with the Securities and Futures Commission - is poised to chair Northern International Holdings, a relative unknown on the bourse that manufactures and sells snap-off blade cutters, toys and home appliances.
Mr Chim had previously remained in the corporate background, having been barred from being a director of a listed company until July last year.
The 'golden banker' seems to have retained his uncanny Midas touch: shares in Northern International soared 100 per cent overnight after shareholders were told on March 16 that Mr Chim had bought a 28.6 per cent stake and planned to take the chairman's post.
When the market opens today the stock will still be trading at levels 50 per cent higher than its price of 0.018 cents before the announcement.
The former high-flyer was jailed in 1998 for plotting to forge share transfer documents. A three-year sentence was reduced to less than a year on appeal, but Mr Chim was stripped of his Legco seat.
