Hong Kong's richest woman loses appeal
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-06-29 09:10

Hong Kong's wealthiest woman lost the latest round in the fight over her late husband's fortune, when an appellate court ruled 2-1 Monday that the will she presented was false.

(L-R): Nina Wang, Teddy Wang, and Wang Din-shin [file photo]

A trial judge had previously found that Nina Wang, chairwoman of the property giant Chinachem, had produced a fraudulent will in court and that she had "probably forged it herself."

Wang's husband, Teddy Wang, was abducted 14 years ago and was never seen again, setting off an estate battle that became one of Hong Kong's most sensational feuds, a tale of money, power, greed and sex.

The trial judge awarded Teddy Wang's estate to the tycoon's father, Wang Din-shin. Nina Wang contested the decision in the trial court, but the Court of Appeal went against her Monday.

Nina Wang is named Hong Kong's sweetheart. [file photo]

Two judges, Wally Yeung and Yuen Ka-ning, agreed that the signatures of Teddy Wang had been forged on the will Nina Wang presented to the court. They upheld the ruling giving the estate _ valued at more than US$130 million _ to her estranged father-in-law.

"No reasonable tribunal could be satisfied that Wang had duly executed the 1990 documents," Yeung wrote.

Judge Wally Waung dissented, saying the lower court's judgment "was wrongly based on an unpleaded case of fraud," and that he would have ordered a retrial.

Although the trial court had ruled that Nina Wang "probably" forged the will, all three appellate judges agreed this had not been proven.

Nina Wang was arrested in December 2002 for suspected forgery and released on a bond of HK$640,000. The case is still under investigation, police say.

Nina Wang's lawyer, Brian Gilchrist, expressed disappointment at Monday's ruling but said her legal team would have to study it before deciding whether to appeal again.

Teddy Wang was declared dead in 1999, after nine years during which Nina Wang insisted he was alive and would return one day.

Once Teddy Wang was declared dead, his father went to court to try to claim his estate, in a battle that had both sides claiming to possess the will.

The father-in-law said his version of the will, naming him as sole beneficiary, was written in 1968 after Teddy Wang accused his wife of adultery. Nina presented the court with another will, purported to have been written shortly before her husband's disappearance.

After Teddy Wang vanished, Nina Wang built his company, Chinachem, into a big property developer. In February, Forbes magazine estimated her worth at US$2.3 billion.

Nina Wang has not directly commented on the adultery allegation, but the father-in-law presented pictures in court that allegedly showed Nina Wang with her alleged lover.

Close

Miss World Tourism pageant in China Fashion show in France Lioness and her cub

Today's Top News     Top Life News
Talks go on for release of kidnapped Chinese         Electronics retailer tops China richest list         Annan applauds China's role in United Nations         WHO report highlights traffic safety in China         China issue rules on overseas investment         Assessing status of nation's health	Clinic to offer sperm storage service       China's box-office hits new high       Beijing festival top-heavy with maestros       Aussie woman jumps on crocodile to stop attack       Superman star Christopher Reeve dies at 52       Kelly Chan to hold Christmas concert