A feng shui adviser who had an affair with Asia’s richest businesswoman before she died lost his bid for her multibillion-dollar estate yesterday when a Hong Kong court deemed his will a forgery.
The legal battle over the late Nina Wang’s (龔如心) fortune has fascinated the territory with its often bizarre stories of Chinese feng shui rituals and illicit love affairs, offering a rare glimpse into the private quarters of the ultra-rich in the money-obsessed territory. Feng shui is the Chinese practice of arranging objects or choosing dates to improve one’s fortunes.
The ruling yesterday marked another episode in the colorful saga of Wang, nicknamed in Hong Kong as “Little Sweetie” for her girlish outfits and pigtail hairdo.
Wang died of cancer in April 2007 at age 69. The lawsuit centered on two competing wills — the 2006 will held by feng shui master Tony Chan (陳振聰) and a 2002 will that left Wang’s fortune to Chinachem Charitable Foundation Ltd (華懋慈善基金), a charity set up by the late businesswoman and her husband.
High Court Judge Lam Man-hon (林文瀚) ruled that Chan’s will was forgery and upheld the 2002 will, according to a summary of his judgment issued by Hong Kong judicial officials.
While Lam accepted that Wang and Chan — more than 20 years her junior — had an intimate relationship, he wrote that the affair was a secret Wang wanted to bury and that when it came to her estate, “she placed a higher regard on her charitable objectives than the defendant,” the summary said.
“The court does not believe that their relationship was such that Nina was prepared to give him her entire estate irrespective of her other commitments and responsibilities. Giving him gifts or even large sums of money during Nina’s lifetime when he made her happy is one thing. Making him her sole heir in respect of her entire estate is quite different,” the document said.
The court ruled that the purported Wang signature on the 2006 will was a “highly skilled simulation.”
One of Chan’s lawyers, Jonathan Midgley, said his client was “extremely disappointed” and plans to appeal.
“We have won now. There is justice in this world,” Wang’s brother, Kung Yan-sum (龔仁心), told reporters.
Hong Kong police didn’t immediately return a reporter’s call asking if it would investigate and prosecute Chan for forgery.
Forgery carries a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison in Hong Kong.
Chan captivated public attention during the trial with his lawyer’s claims that he and Wang were so intimate that she left him a pair of her pigtails. Chan himself testified they were having an affair when his wife was pregnant with their eldest son, telling the court that Wang called him her “husband.”
Adding to the mystery surrounding Chan was his spotty resume that included working as a bartender, waiter, machinery salesman, market researcher and computer parts exporter. He testified that when he became a feng shui consultant, he once advised a client to burn real money.
Meanwhile, Chinachem’s lawyers argued that Chan’s 2006 will was part of a feng shui ritual to prolong Wang’s life.
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