HONG KONG (AP) — The former lover and fortune teller of quirky billionaire Nina Wang was sentenced Friday to 12 years in prison after a Hong Kong court found him guilty of forging her will to claim her multibillion-dollar estate.
High Court Justice Andrew Macrae said Peter Chan's attempt to pass himself off as the beneficiary of Nina Wang's fortune, estimated by prosecutors at 83 billion Hong Kong dollars ($10.7 billion), was "shameless, wicked and borne of unparalleled greed."
Wang, once Asia's richest woman, died in 2007 at age 69 after battling cancer.
Hong Kong police charged Chan after a court ruled in 2010 that a will purportedly leaving Wang's Chinachem Group to him was forged.
The legal battles over the will have enthralled the Chinese territory with their seamy mix of sex, big money and fraud allegations. Hong Kongers were riveted by juicy revelations such as Chan's affair with Wang, who was two decades older than him. She was nicknamed "Little Sweetie" for her girlish outfits and pigtail hairdo.
Chan was convicted Thursday of forgery and using a false instrument. The judge sentenced him to 12 years on each count, to be served concurrently.