Chen Songqing (businessman)

Chen Song‑qing (English: George Tan Soon‑gin; born c. 1935, died 2021) was a Malaysian‑born Hong Kong businessman and economic criminal, notorious as the mastermind of the Carrian Group scandal.

Early life

Chen’s exact date and place of birth remain uncertain. A 1995 Wall Street Journal report states he was born in Malaysia, while he himself claimed 1938 in Sarawak. Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) records suggest circa 1935, though his Singaporean passport records a birth on 10 December 1933 in Fujian Province, China. He studied civil engineering at the University of London before working in Malaysia and Singapore, where he ran a small civil engineering firm until bankruptcy.

Move to Hong Kong

After his bankruptcy in Singapore, Chen arrived in Hong Kong in June 1972 and joined Yick Tai Group as an engineer. He later formed his own property company and, during Hong Kong’s 1970s real‑estate boom, amassed his first fortune. In 1977 he and partner Chung Jing‑chang founded Carrian Group and numerous related companies, securing massive loans from Malaysian “bumiputra finance” firms by means of bribery.

In 1979 Carrian acquired listed American & Asian Investment Holdings and renamed it Carrian Investment, then purchased an entire grade‑A office block, Admiralty Centre, for HK$1 billion, later selling it for a HK$680 million profit in 1980. Chen manipulated Carrian’s share price through complex intra‑group transactions, driving it from HK$6 to HK$15.40 in nine months.

Criminal proceedings

After the 1987 market downturn and Chung’s disappearance, Carrian’s creditors forced liquidation. On 2 October 1983 Chen and five associates were arrested. The 1986 trial before Justice Dennis Barker lasted a record 281 days, with over 25 000 pages of transcript and 104 witnesses. Charges alleged conspiracy to defraud shareholders and creditors by concealing Carrian’s true financial position.

Subsequently, a 1985 Malaysian inquiry (the Nordin Commission) reported that over HK$6 billion in loans to Carrian lacked proper security and documentation, and suspected bribes to bumiputra finance executives. In 1994 the ICAC charged Chen with fraud and corrupt payments; in September 1996 he pled guilty to two counts of conspiracy to defraud and was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment.

Later life and death

Released early in 1998, Chen lived quietly in Clear Water Bay, Sai Kung, with his wife Ko King‑wan and three daughters. He remained a director of three private companies in Central, Hong Kong. He maintained a low profile until a 2001 public appearance at a Tibet exhibition. Reports from late 2014 indicated he was semi‑retired in Clear Water Bay. In January 2024 lawyer Sylvia Ong disclosed on YouTube that Chen had died during the COVID‑19 pandemic; financial commentator Chan Pui‑chung later confirmed his death in a January 2024 interview.

Dispute over antiques

In 1982 former Carrian director Lam Sau‑fung lent Chen five valuable antiques for display in Admiralty Centre. In 2005 Christie’s auctioned three items, one selling for HK$115 million. Lam sued Chen for defamation and later for recovery of the antiques. In 2010 the High Court ruled against Chen, ordering him to pay Lam over HK$100 million. Christie’s proceeds were returned to Lam, and in February 2012 the court issued a bankruptcy order against Chen after he failed to pay.

In popular culture

• 1998 film “Young and Dangerous: The Prequel” – character Chan Ka‑nam (played by Paul Chun)
• 1998 TVB “ICAC Investigators 1998” – episode “Billion Dollar Judgment” – character Tang Pak‑nin (Justin Chan)
• 1998 ATV “Rogue Lawyer” – character Yuen Lei‑loi (Wong Yan‑choi)
• 2020 TVB “Gold Laundering” – character Wing Mok‑tung (Francis Ng)
• 2023 film “Golden Finger” – character Cheng Yat‑yin (Tony Leung)

See also

• Jiao Lin murder case
• Private swimming pool suicide case