BARING CHAIRMAN SUSPECTS SABOTAGE

The chairman of Baring Brothers & Co. suspects his bank was sabotaged by a get-rich-quick plot to wreck the institution. Peter Baring told the Financial Times of London that he believes Singapore-based trader Nicholas Leeson, 28, may have teamed with an accomplice to bet against Baring on the futures market and cash in when the bank went under last weekend. There was no independent confirmation of Baring's charge. Leeson's investments in Tokyo stock futures on Baring's behalf cost the bank more than $1 billion, forcing it into bankruptcy after the market fell last week. Leeson fled his home and was last tracked to Malaysia, where he checked out of a hotel on Friday. Leeson's risky dealings were detected last week when he ran out of money and asked the home office for more, according to a British government source. TIME London bureau chief Barry Hillenbrand says Leeson is the oldest of four siblings born to a blue-collar family in a London suburb, an average student who did not attend college and began his career as a bank clerk.Post to Business "Baring Bros. Collapse."