Feng Shui Guru Is Denied Appeal in Hong Kong



Feng Shui Guru Is Denied Appeal in Hong Kong — Hong Kong's highest court on Monday rejected an application by feng-shui adviser Tony Chan to hear his appeal against a ruling that denied him the multibillion dollar estate of late businesswoman Nina Wang, who he claims was a longtime lover.

The decision by the Court of Final Appeal thwarts any hope for the 51-year old to overturn decisions made in the city's lower courts, marking an end to the yearslong battle over one of Asia's great fortunes.

Mr. Chan claimed to be Ms. Wang's beneficiary after her death in 2007. Ms. Wang, who was chairwoman of unlisted developer Chinachem Group Corp., named her charitable foundation the sole beneficiary in a 2002 will, but Mr. Chan produced another will, dated 2006, that instead left everything to him.



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Tony Chan, center, seen with his bodyguards at the High Court in 2009, was denied an appeal by the court on Monday.


Hong Kong's High Court in February last year ruled in favor of the Chinachem Charitable Foundation Ltd., with the presiding judge saying the 2006 will was forged by the self-styled feng-shiu master—a charge Mr. Chan has denied. That ruling was upheld by the Court of Appeal in February this year.

"I'm happy with the result...so the foundation can proceed with its charity work," said Keith Ho, a lawyer representing Chinachem. Mr. Chan and lawyers representing him couldn't immediately be reached for comment.

After the first court ruling, Mr. Chan was arrested on suspicion of forgery and released on bail. In May this year, local police formally charged him with forging the 2006 will. His prosecution continues.

Mr. Chan has said his relationship with Ms. Wang began in 1992, when she hired him to do feng shui work. At the time of her death from cancer at the age of 69 in 2007, Forbes magazine estimated Ms. Wang's wealth to be US$4.2 billion.

Ms. Wang was widely known in Hong Kong for appearing at public events in bright miniskirts and bouncing pigtails that earned her the Cantonese nickname "Siu Tim Tim," or "Little Sweetie."

Ms. Wang inherited the estate of her husband, Teddy Wang, who was kidnapped in 1990 and declared dead in 1999, after winning her own battle of competing wills against her late father-in-law. ( wsj.com)

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