China

Geomancer appeals ruling on $12.9b estate

By Timothy Chui (China Daily)
Updated: 2011-01-11 07:56

HONG KONG - A Hong Kong fortuneteller on Monday filed an appeal against a court ruling that denied his claim to the estimated HK$100 billion ($12.9 billion) estate of late property tycoon Nina Wang, with his counsel arguing the intimacy of the two's relationship was underestimated in the initial trial.

The case had grabbed headlines for months, during which Tony Chan battled the eccentric billionaire's charity, now run by her siblings, for the huge real estate fortune that once made the pigtailed Wang Asia's richest woman.

Wang, celebrated for her outlandish attire and thrifty character, died of cancer in April 2007 at the age of 69, triggering a bitter feud between Chan and the charity, with both claiming they were entitled to her estate.

High Court Judge Johnson Lam ruled last February that a will in Chan's possession was a forgery, siding with the charity's claim to the estate based on another will.

Chan, a former bartender who claimed he was Wang's secret lover, held a series of odd jobs before starting a career advising clients on feng shui, an ancient Chinese belief system based on harnessing natural and spiritual energies.

At the start of the 10-day hearing on Monday, Chan's lawyer Ian Mill argued the judge in the initial hearing had misconstrued key evidence, including the testimony of a handwriting expert who deemed Chan's will a fake.

"The judge made fundamental errors in his approach in evaluating the evidence," Mill told the city's Court of Appeal.

"(He) was wrong in accepting there was sufficiently cogent evidence that it was a forged will."

Mill also argued that the judge had "disapproved" of Chan's secret relationship with the billionaire and this had affected his judgment.

Chan's legal team presented photo and video evidence to support its claim. It showed a short video clip of Wang posing on a Toyota SUV in shorts and a tank top, asking Chan what he would do if his darling fell off when the car started.

Mill argued the video - in which the two referred to each other as "silly pig" and "daddy" - along with several pictures, showed the two had a loving relationship akin to that of a husband and wife.

He said the original trial judge, Johnson Lam, had also failed to recognize the implications of about HK$3 billion Wang gave Chan over the years to bolster his financial standing as consummate to becoming her heir.

Mill also said it was improbable Chan would risk fraudulently laying claim to Wang's billions, given he was already flush with cash.

He added it was improbable a 2006 will produced by Chan was a forgery given the meticulousness that would have been needed to replicate three different handwriting styles, signatures and chops.

Shortly after the initial ruling, Hong Kong police arrested Chan on suspicion of forging the will, later releasing him on bail of HK$5 million.

The case gripped Hong Kong and generated blanket media coverage, with Chan often cast as a charlatan who duped the billionaire by promising to find her kidnapped husband and cure her cancer.

Wang's husband Teddy, who started the Chinachem Group property empire, was abducted in 1990 and declared legally dead in 1999. His body has never been found.

Chan's 10-day case continued at the High Court before appeal judges Doreen Le Pichon, Anthony Rogers and Susan Kwan on Tuesday.

AFP contributed to this story.

China Daily