TWO BAD PENNIES

Entrepreneur John Hui has been trying for more than a decade to recover US$10 million lost from a computer deal gone bad. To date, he's spent about $5 million in legal fees in an attempt to force Jay and Christina Chiang of Richmond Hill, Ontario, to pay up. They claim to be bankrupt, despite owning a mansion and two luxury cars, and sending their two sons through Upper Canada College, where tuition and boarding costs about $50,000 a year. Hui's fight is an important one for Canada because it raises the question of whether people can continue to live the high life while claiming bankruptcy and ignoring their debts. Unfortunately, Hui's cynicism comes from experience, and it comes with an important lesson for the rest of you: always complete your due diligence on prospective customers, suppliers and partners before you deal with them. For him, justice will be reached if he collects even a small percentage of the money owed.