Tony Chan ordered to pay HK$30m of costs
Self-styled fung shui master Tony Chan Chun-chuen was yesterday ordered to pay HK$30 million of the HK$140 million cost of defending his legal claim to tycoon Nina Wang Kung Yu-sum's estate, ahead of a court hearing over the rest of the sum.
Chan has agreed to most of the details of the HK$30 million bill, but he was given 14 days to raise objections by Master Katina Levy Law Suet-mui as she made the interim payment order in the High Court.
A further hearing will begin on May 7 over the remaining HK$110 million. It is expected to take 25 days.
The HK$140 million bill is for the Chinachem Charitable Foundation's legal costs in the Court of First Instance case over Chan's claim that Wang (pictured) had written a will leaving her estate to him. The court ruled the new will to be a fake in 2010. A failed appeal is expected to land Chan with a bill for a further HK$19 million in legal fees.
Chan last month accused Chinachem of champerty - a legal concept under which a person funds a lawsuit in return for a portion of the benefits - and overcharging, in an attempt to challenge the bill. But he later withdrew the claims, and faces further costs of HK$167,000 for hearings about them.
Ahead of next month's hearing, Levy drew the attention of both sides to one item of the legal bill, in which a solicitor had charged HK$9,200 per hour, more than twice the Law Society's recommended rate of HK$4,000 for a senior solicitor.
The court battle over the legal fees is not the end of Chan's legal troubles. As well as criminal charges over allegations that he forged Wang's will, Chan faces a bill for more than HK$330 million in unpaid taxes.
The Court of First Instance froze Chan's assets, valued at an estimated HK$511 million, in February.
