Expert faults test method on will

Test results said to show part of a will allegedly left by late tycoon Teddy Wang Teh-huei was written after he went missing were probably inaccurate, a probate hearing was told yesterday.

US-based forensic document examiner Peter Tytell said ink-dating expert Erich Speckin had failed to use the proper procedure and technique when examining samples from the 1990 will.

Mr Tytell was giving evidence for property tycoon Nina Wang Kung Yu-sum in her probate battle against her father-in-law, Wang Din-shin, 89, over Teddy Wang's estate.

He told Clive Grossman, SC, for Ms Wang, that the technique used by Mr Speckin - who gave evidence for Mr Wang - would probably lead to contamination of the ink samples, which could affect the results.

'I am of the view that the technique adopted by Erich Speckin for determining how long ink has been on paper is not a reliable and accredited ink-dating technique,' he said. He told the Court of First Instance that even if Mr Speckin had followed the best possible laboratory procedure 'the result of his examination would still probably be unreliable and inaccurate'.

Mr Speckin concluded that three of the four pages of the will, dated March 12, 1990, were less than four years old.

Earlier in the hearing, Mr Grossman confronted Mr Speckin about examinations he had carried out this year on 12 documents unrelated to this case. The court heard that Ms Wang instructed a law firm in England to send samples from the 12 documents to Mr Speckin for ink-dating tests. Mr Grossman said four of 12 documents were wrongly dated.

Mr Wang claims the 1990 will, which makes Ms Wang sole beneficiary, is a forgery. A will dated March 15, 1968, names him sole beneficiary.

Mr Justice David Yam Yee-kwan declared Teddy Wang, who was abducted in 1990, legally dead on September 22, 1999. The hearing continues today.