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SCMP Reporter

Last updated at 5.57pm:
Asia?s richest woman Nina Wang Kung Yu-sum on Friday won an eight-year legal battle over the inheritance of her late husband?s multibillion-dollar business empire.

The Court of Final Appeal unanimously ruled that a will, dated 1990, was valid and awarded the $24 billion Chinachem empire to Mrs Wang.

It overturned a lower court verdict that she had forged the will of her late husband, Teddy Wang Teh-huei, one month before he was kidnapped and believed killed in 1990.

Teddy Wang disappeared after he was kidnapped in 1990 and was declared legally dead nine years later.

The Court of Final Appeal unanimously ruled that the will ? dated in 1990 ? was valid. It awarded the $24 billion Chinachem Group ? the leading property developer that owns office towers and housing estates across Hong Kong ? to Mrs Wang.

It also overturned a lower court verdict that she had forged the will of her late husband, Teddy Wang Teh-huei, one month before he was kidnapped in 1990. He was never seen again.

A judge said the sworn statements of the Wangs? late butler, Tse Ping-yim, who was the sole witness to the will, was legally valid.
 
He said the court found no reason to dismiss Tse?s testimony, although he could not appear in court at this stage - he had died in 1999.

Mrs Wang?s lawyer Brian Gilchrist told local radio that Mrs Wang was greatly relieved after learning the victory.

 ?We are obviously delighted with the verdict. Mrs Wang is happy. Her initial reaction was relief,? he said.

Nicknamed ?Little Sweetie?, the flamboyant Mrs Wang is noted for wearing her hair in pigtails and dressing in colourful outfits.

She has been fighting the lawsuit with Teddy Wang?s 94-year-old father, Wang Din-shin, for eight years for the control of the company.

Barrister Albert Tsang, for Wang Din-shin, said he had told Wang Din-shin about Friday?s ruling.

?We are very disappointed with the outcome of the eight-year battle,? Mr Tsang said. ?It seems that there isn?t much we can do. This is the Court of Final Appeal?s ruling. We?ll respect it.?

The High Court ruled three years ago that the 1990 will ? claiming Mrs Wang as the sole heir ? was a forgery. It had awarded the entire estate, then worth about $7.8 billion, to Wang Din-shin.

In January, she was charged with forgery but released on bail of $55 million ? the largest bail in Hong Kong history.

Two other wills have also been circulating in the courts. The earliest, dated 1960, split the estate equally between Wang Din-shin and his wife.

Meanwhile, the Department of Justice said it would examine Friday?s verdict and decide whether prosecutions for three charges - of forgery, using false documents and perverting the course of public justice - facing Mrs Wang would continue, local radio reported.



Nina Wang wins appeal over will