Edward Lehman Committed to Prison for 6 Months (Suspended for 2 Years)

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• Publié par: eastwest-public-relations-prn-asia
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• Langue: English

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Edward Lehman Committed to Prison for 6 Months (Suspended for 2 Years)

PR Newswire HONG KONG, BEIJING and SINGAPORE, Sept. 12, 2012

- Hong Kong High Court finds Edward Lehman guilty of contempt of court and hands down 6 months prison sentence, suspended for 2 years HONG KONG,BEIJINGandSINGAPORE,Sept. 12, 2012/PRNewswire/ -- Edward Lehman ("Lehman"), Managing Director and founding partner of Lehman, Lee & Xu, a mainland Chinese law firm, was found guilty of a 2nd contempt of Court by the Hong Kong High Court in HCMP 2524/2011, and committed to six months prison, suspended for two years. The Applicant, Effiscient Limited ("Effiscient"), one of two shareholders (and the only shareholder with voting rights) in LehmanBrown Limited ("Company"), a leading accounting firm inChina, sought legal recourse inHong Kongfor contempt of court forinter aliaa further breach of an Injunction Order. In defamation proceedings issued against Lehman in HCA 959/2010 inJune 2010, an Injunction Order was granted by The Honourable Mr. Justice To on23 July 2010, restraining Lehman from publishing defamatory statements and making slanderous statements concerning Russell Brown ("Brown"), Zhou Han Brown ("Zhou Han"), Effiscient, the Company or any of the employees of the Company. TheHonourable Mr. Justice To had also ordered Lehman to file and serve an affidavit disclosing a complete list of the identity of the recipients of his defamatory emails and letters. Despite notice of the Injunction Order being given to Lehman, and in breach of the Injunction Order, Lehman continued to publish defamatory statements about Brown and/or Zhou Han and/or the Company during August and September 2010, and failed to file and serve an affidavit disclosing a complete list of the identity of the recipients of his defamatory emails, also in breach of the Injunction Order in HCA 959/2010.As such, Lehman was found in contempt of court on19 April 2011by The Honourable Mr. Justice To in HCMP 2204/2010, where he narrowly avoided a prison sentence by pleading mercy and showing remorse for his actions. The 2nd committal hearing took place in open Court inHong Kongon 11 and12 July 2012Thebefore The Honourable Mr. Justice Harris in HCMP 2524/2011. Honourable Mr Justice Harris held that by sending further emails inOctober 2011(during the course of him giving evidence at a trial) Lehman further breached the Injunction Order. In the 2nd committal proceedings, The Honourable Mr. Justice Harris ordered that, for his contempt of Court, Lehman be committed to prison for a period of 6 months.The Honourable Mr. Justice Harris further ordered that the custodial sentence be suspended for a period of 2 years upon the condition that Lehman commits no further contempts of the Court.The Honourable Mr. Justice Harris also ordered Lehman to pay Effiscient their legal costs of the 2nd committal proceedings on an indemnity basis in the sum ofHK$800,000. The Honourable Mr. Justice Harris stated that "He… Mr. Lehman is a lawyer. has behaved in a way which shows a lack of regard for the integrity of the court rocess. Hisconduct after beinfound uilt ofcontem tb Tohas not been

consistent with the remorse he expressed at the time to which To J took into account in deciding not to impose a custodial sentence" and held that "In these circumstances a custodial sentence is necessary". Commenting on the victory of due process of law over Lehman, Brown (on behalf of Effiscient) said, "The court sets directions which should be followed. Edward Lehman had already flouted the authority of the courts and been found guilty of contempt, and yet he continued to have a disregard for them, and as such I am pleased that the courts have taken this disregard seriously". The Orders of The Honourable Mr. Justice Harris in the 2nd committal proceedings are currently the subject of an appeal by Lehman. On3 December 2010, Brown, Zhou Han and Effiscient obtained an Interlocutory Judgment against Lehman in the defamation proceedings in HCA 959/2010. Brown,Zhou Han and Effiscient are currently pursuing an assessment of damages against Lehman, which is scheduled to take place duringMarch 2013and which (they are advised) should result in them obtaining a substantial damages award against Lehman. HIGH COURT OF THEHONG KONGSPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE MISCELLANEOUS PROCEEDINGS NO. HCMP 2524/2011 About Effiscient Effiscient is one of two shareholders of LehmanBrown. On15 November 2011, the High Court ofHong Konghanded down a Judgment in HCCW 377/2010 and HCCW 383/2010 ordering the other shareholder, Lehman & Co., a company controlled by Edward Lehman and/or his wife Karolina Lehman, to sell it's shareholding in LehmanBrown to Effiscient and providing Effiscient with a signed proxy in respect of its voting rights in LehmanBrown, giving Effiscient effectively 100% control over LehmanBrown and all voting rights at shareholder level. Effiscient already had 100% control at board level. About LehmanBrown LehmanBrown is a leadingChina-focused accounting, taxation and business advisory firm. The company operates through offices inBeijing,Shanghai, Guangzhou,Shenzhen,TianjinandHong Kong, and employs around two hundred professionals throughoutChina, all of whom are English-Mandarin bi- lingual. LehmanBrown is registered with the PCAOB in theUSA. LehmanBrown is also an Accredited Employer and Training Partner of many top global accountancy institutes including the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants (HKICPA) and CPA Australia. Visit http://www.lehmanbrown.com