Shanghai Land Holdings receiver Stephen Liu Yiu-keung says he may try to recoup $1 billion from disgraced chairman Chau Ching-ngai, who was jailed in the mainland for manipulating stock prices and falsifying registered capital.
Mr Liu, who is also managing director of accounting firm Ernst & Young, urged Chau to return to Hong Kong after his imprisonment and settle the listed company's financial loss from two acquisitions in Shanghai.
'We may get Chau to repay the $1 billion the company is missing,' Mr Liu said. 'We hope he can settle the amount or we have to take legal action.'
According to mainland media reports, Chau may win parole after the Lunar New Year.
After a year in custody, Chau in June was sentenced by the Shanghai No1 Intermediate People's Court to 21/2 years in jail for stock manipulation and one year for falsifying capital. The court combined the sentences and handed down a punishment of three years.
Chau managed to avoid more serious charges - involving suspect land acquisitions - in what rights activists and western diplomats said was a deliberate move to avoid involving government officials.
