A magistrate yesterday refused to hear self-styled fung shui master Tony Chan Chun-chuen's application to halt criminal proceedings against him, saying that decision should be left to the court where Chan will be tried.
Chan, 52, is charged with forgery and use of a fake will to bolster his claim that late businesswoman Nina Wang Kung Yu-sum left him her entire fortune, estimated at HK$50 billion.
Magistrate David Dufton earlier heard arguments from Chan's lawyers and prosecutors as to whether his court had the power to halt proceedings and exclude evidence in the case against Chan.
'I decline to hear the stay application,' Dufton ruled yesterday in Eastern Court. The courthouse where Chan will face trial is a better forum for dealing with his stay application, according to the magistrate.
Chan has argued that he would be deprived of a fair trial because forensic tests on the allegedly forged will had destroyed all DNA traces and fingerprints on it.
Chan's lawyer, Alan Hoo SC, last week asked the magistrate not to consider as evidence the allegedly forged will, its draft and an envelope seized from Chan. '[It's] no longer the same document,' Hoo said.