Leeson's assets are `frozen'

FROM TIM MCGIRK

in Singapore

Police may have frozen assets belonging to trader Nick Leeson, who fled Singapore after piling up losses which sunk the Barings Group. Wanted for alleged forgery, Mr Leeson is fighting extradition to Singapore from Germany where he was detained last week.

The Straits Times reported that the Singapore fraud squad, the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD), is pressing ahead with its inquiry into whether or not Barings' collapse was due to a crime committed by Mr Leeson. A CAD team are building up evidence to present at the German extradition hearing within 40 days.

In Singapore it is standard practice for authorities to find and seize all assets belonging to suspected white-collar criminals. CAD officers raided Mr Leeson's home several days after he and his wife slipped over to Malaysia as news of the collapse broke. The newspaper said that Mr Leeson, might have carried out financial transactions in Labuan, a financial centre in East Malaysia before flying to Germany on 2 March.