After a month detained in sub-zero Mongolia, Christopher Bradley got the best possible Christmas present - he was let out of the country.
Mr Bradley, a New Zealander who lives in Sydney, expected to be in Mongolia for five days, but ended up staying in the country's dark, cold capital for five weeks after authorities told him he was a suspect in a legal investigation.
On December 18, the travel ban was lifted, and Mr Bradley flew to Sydney the next day - his birthday.
"Maybe they thought, let's cut him a break," he joked to AAP.
Mr Bradley works as a consultant for South African lender Standard Bank and had been to Mongolia more than 100 times in the past decade.
His latest visit was as part of a five-person team trying to recover loans from Just Group, a service supplier for the state-controlled railway and copper mine.
But as he prepared to leave at the end of November, he was called into a police station and told he was a suspect in a legal investigation against Just Group.
Police told him he'd be in Mongolia for the "foreseeable future".
The grounds for his detention were "baseless" and police had acted with either "gross incompetence or active vindictiveness", Mr Bradley told NZ Newswire in early December.
Standard Bank is trying to reclaim $US120 million ($A134.6 million) in debt owed by Just Group in the UK courts.
Mr Bradley had expected to be detained for longer, and puts his release down to his lawyers, the New Zealand government and media putting the spotlight on his plight.
Two delegates from the New Zealand embassy in Beijing came to Mongolia and did everything they could to help, Mr Bradley said.
"I'm very happy - I didn't think I was going to get out in four weeks," he said.
Much of his time was spent in a hotel room, and while his situation paled in comparison to what he saw on the world news, he found it draining not knowing when he would be let out to see his family again.
"It was psychological, especially at Christmas time.
"You're away from your home, away from what you expected to be doing."
Now the family man is back in Auckland celebrating Christmas with his wife and elderly mother.
Despite the experience, Mr Bradley is keen to get back to Mongolia once he's allowed back in.
"I'm a big fan of Mongolia and I have good friends up there.
"It doesn't taint my belief in the place."
Other westerners have previously been detained in Mongolia, including Australian Mining lawyer Sarah Armstrong who was detained for two months last year as part of a corruption probe.
