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Tony Chan Chun-chuen, whose name was once linked to Asia's richest woman Nina Wang, has been conned of US$800,000 by a cabbie. The Hong Kong feng shui master was said to have flown to Teterboro Airport in New Jersey on a private jet in July 2008.There, car-service driver Peter Rahhaoui fetched him to the city, some 21km away.He paid with his American Express card, said New York Post in an exclusive report.
In the next few month, large monthly charges from the limousine service were posted to Chan's card, ranged between US$4,300 to nearly US$20,000.But the multi-millionaire did not realise the deductions and only found out after being informed by the bank.
A file photo of Nina and Tony
A security specialist noticed the suspicious pattern of activity on Chan's account and notified the authorities.In papers filed recently at Brooklyn federal court, prosecutors said Rahhaoui's started the scam after he picked up Chan at the airport.Prosecutors said other than the first charge, the rest were unauthorised and fraudulent.
The driver was busted in January. He pleaded not guilty.Chan, 51, served as a spiritual adviser to Wang and later became her lover.Wang died at 69 in 2007.After that, Chan forged a will that made him the sole heir to Wang’s fortune, worth some US$4.2bil as estimated by Forbes magazine in the year she died.
A Hong Kong court deemed Chan's will a forgery in February and Wang's estate was channelled to the Chinachem Charitable Foundation Ltd - a charity organisation set up by Wang's late husband - as stated in her original will.Chan was arrested and released on a HK$5mil bail pending trial. Hong Kong tax collectors has also demanded for HK$300mil in back taxes on income Chan alleged to have received for feng shui services but he claimed the money were gifts from his lover.
A bartender-turned-fortune teller who had an affair with Asia’s richest woman when she was alive, lost his bid for her multibillion-dollar estate Tuesday when a court deemed his will a forgery.The legal battle over the late Nina Wang’s fortune has fascinated Hong Kong 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 this money-obsessed city.
The lawsuit centered on two competing wills – the 2006 will held by feng shui master Tony Chan Chun-chuen and 2002 will that left Wang’s fortune to Chinachem Charitable Foundation Ltd, a charity set up by the late businesswoman and her husband.High Court Judge Lam Man-hon on Tuesday ruled that Chan’s will was forgery and upheld the 2006 will, according to a summary of his judgment issued by Hong Kong judicial officials.
While Lam accepted that Wang and Chan had an intimate relationship, the affair was a secret Wang wanted to bury and 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,” according to the document.The court ruled that the purported Wang signature on the 2006 will is a “highly skilled simulation.”
Nina Wang's brother and sisters (from left) Kung Yan-fum, Kung Yan-sum and Molly Cong celebrate after winning the court case
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, told reporters Tuesday.Hong Kong police didn’t immediately return a reporter’s call asking if it will investigate and prosecute Chan for forgery. Forgery carries a maximum penalty of 14 years in prison in Hong Kong.
Feng shui master Tony Chan Chun-chuen
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 bartender, waiter, machinery salesman, market researcher and computer parts exporting. 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.
The ruling Tuesday marked another episode in the colourful saga of Wang, nicknamed in Hong Kong as “Little Sweetie” for her girlish outfits and hairdo. Wang, who died of cancer in April 2007 at age 69, had to fight her own probate battle.She inherited developer Chinachem Group from her late husband, Teddy Wang, after an eight-year court case against her father-in-law.
Teddy Wang was abducted in 1990, and despite the family paying US$33 million in ransom, he was never released and his body never found.In 2007, Forbes magazine ranked Nina Wang as the world’s No. 204 richest person with a fortune of US$4.2 billion, but it is not clear how much her fortune is currently worth because Chinachem Group is a private company.Kung told reporters on Tuesday that Wang’s estate is worth “at least several tens of billions” of Hong Kong dollars. – AP
Published: Monday February 14, 2011 MYT 2:12:00 PM
Updated: Monday February 14, 2011 MYT 2:51:59 PM
HK feng shui master loses appeal in Nina Wang case
HONG KONG (AP): A feng shui master pursued "a thoroughly dishonest case" in trying to claim late Hong Kong developer Nina Wang's multibillion-dollar estate with a forged will, a court said Monday in turning away his appeal.
By persisting in the case, fortune teller Tony Chan Chun-chuen "abused the process of the court," High Court Judge Anthony Rogers said, as he read out the appeal panel's ruling to a packed courtroom.
Wang died of cancer in 2007 at age 69. The fortune held through her private Chinachem Group has been estimated at around $100 billion Hong Kong dollars (US$12.8 billion), the ruling said.
The court had ruled in February 2010 in favor of an earlier will that left Wang's estate to a charity she and her late husband founded.
Kung Yan-sum, younger brother of Nina Wang, raises a copy of judgment during a press conference in Hong Kong, Monday, Feb. 14, 2011. - APpix
The dispute fascinated Hong Kongers with its juicy revelations of Chan's affair with Wang, who was nicknamed "Little Sweetie" for her girlish outfits and pigtail hairdo.
Chan's appeal argued the judge was "morally offended" by the romance and let his personal views color his ruling that the second will was forged.
Chan said during the trial last year that he and Wang were in love, sharing a passion for cooking, travel, model helicopters and feng shui - the Chinese art of arranging objects and choosing dates to improve luck.
The trial judge, however, described the 51-year-old former bartender as an opportunist who knew how to ingratiate himself with others.
Wang's brother, Kung Yan-sum, said he was "very, very happy" with the ruling.
"The court has spoken very clearly," he said, as he held up a copy of the ruling at a news conference.
