Judge's son-in-law arrested in Britain over investment scam

An alleged scammer, wanted for fleecing one of the city's most respected judges out of millions of dollars, has been arrested by British police.

Kevin Slattery was arrested on February 16 after a request was made to British authorities. Mr Slattery is accused of cheating investors, including his father-in-law, the late High Court Justice Thomas Gall, of HK$21.8 million between 2001 and 2005.

Hong Kong's Department of Justice has confirmed that Mr Slattery is facing 14 charges of theft, one of forgery, 11 charges of evasion of liability by deception, one charge of false accounting and five counts of forgery.

A source close to the investigation said the charges stemmed from an alleged scheme run by Mr Slattery that was similar in nature to one carried out by Wall Street high-flier Bernard Madoff.

The source said it had been difficult for investigators because many of the people who lost money to Mr Slattery were well known, affluent and in positions of responsibility.

The prospect of making a statement to police and then being cross-examined in a public court of law about how they came to make such poor investment decisions had deterred a number of Mr Slattery's other victims from co-operating with the investigation, the source said.

A highly charismatic character, Mr Slattery had a reputation for spreading his cash around.