The bankruptcy settlement was between Sarkies Brothers, the bankrupt party, who owed O. Rahiman Sahib $151.52 for goods supplied. The creditor was represented by Dawood Maidin. During the Great Depression the Sarkies Brothers accumulated the biggest bankruptcy the colony has ever seen, with liabilities amounting to $3.5 million.Some factors that contributed to their dire straits included: the drastic shrinking of the tourist trade during the depression while the spending power of the European community in Malaya declined with the fall of tin and rubber prices; the death of Arshak Sarkies who took over the management of the RAffles Hotel after Tigran's death (late 1910s). Within four months of Ashak's death, Raffles Hotel was taken to court by John Little, for debts amounting to $36,796. The Sarkies Brothers firm was declared bankrupt in 1931. After a complicated and long process of negotiations that took two years and the involvement of 195 creditors, the hotel survived and was incorporated in 1933 as Raffles Hotel Limited. The Sarkies Brothers had bought over the lease to Raffles Hotel in 1887 and turned it from a humble hostelry to a grand oriental hotel. By the 1910s, they were at the pinnacle of their success, having established very profitable and famous hotels in SE Asia that were consistently improved with modern systems and needs (such as an elevator in 1907, tennis lawn etc).
