Late tycoon Nina Wang’s charitable foundation files bankruptcy petition against former ‘lover’ Peter Chan, jailed for forging her will
- The one-time feng shui master is serving 12 years at Stanley Prison after forging a will to get his hands on Wang’s HK$83 billion fortune
- The filing records made available do not disclose the amount of alleged debt that prompted the Chinachem Charitable Foundation’s action
Chinachem Charitable Foundation filed the bankruptcy petition against Chan on Friday, but the filing records made available on Monday did not disclose the amount of alleged debt that prompted the legal action.
The first hearing at the High Court has been scheduled for December 30.
Chan, who changed his name from Tony and later converted to Christianity soon after being jailed at maximum-security Stanley Prison, first made headlines days after Wang’s death in April 2007.
He identified himself as the billionaire’s lover, and later asked the court to appoint him as the sole heir to her HK$83 billion (US$10.6 billion) estate, claiming he had a will made by Wang, boss of the Chinachem Group and once Asia’s richest woman, in October 2006.
But the Chinachem Charitable Foundation, led by Wang’s brother, Kung Yan-sum, argued Chan’s will was a forgery. A key witness, lawyer Winfield Wong Wing-cheung, said he witnessed only a “partial will” signed by Wang in 2006, which amounted to a sum of about HK$10 million.
After a lengthy legal battle, which included testimony from handwriting experts, the court in 2010 found the 2006 will was forged and the foundation was awarded the estate.
In 2011, Chan lost his final appeal at Hong Kong’s top court over his claim to the estate.
The verdict led to Chan’s 2013 prosecution for forging the will. Later that year, a High Court jury convicted Chan of one count of forgery and another of using a false document, jailing him for 12 years.
In 2016, the appeal court refused to grant him permission to challenge his conviction at the top court.
