A FIVE-YEAR hunt for $12.4 million in bribes spirited out of Hong Kong by corrupt government lawyer Warwick Reid appears to be almost over.
Informed sources claim the Government has already recovered the missing millions as part of a ''deal'' with Reid's wife, Judith.
Independent Commission Against Corruption officers have been searching for the $12,415,900 million in ''unexplained assets'' since before Reid, a former acting director of public prosecutions, admitted accepting bribes and was jailed for eight years on July 6, 1990.
''We are hopeful we are nearing a conclusion to this process,'' a source told the Sunday Morning Post.
It remains unclear what stage the recovery of the money has reached, but it is believed that the key to resolving the problem was agreement over disposal of the Reid's home in New Zealand.
''The Legal Department is continuing to take action to recover Warwick Reid's assets he made out of corruption,'' said a spokesman for the Attorney-General, Jeremy Mathews, who is responsible for retrieving the missing money.