Come 16 Feb 2009, a spectacular and scandal-packed court battle is scheduled to start in Hongkong over the USD4.2 billion fortune of Asia’s richest woman, Nina Wang, who died aged 69 last year, leaving her money to an unknown feng shui master.
It is expected to last eight weeks. Wang, the former chairwoman of the Chinachem property empire, died of cancer in April last year, leaving a will which bequeathed her entire fortune to a part-time feng shui master Chan Chun Cheun.
The will is being challenged by Wang’s relatives acting through a Chinachem charitable foundation who say that the will is not valid and that the family should inherit the money.
Wang was named as the richest woman in Asia in 2006 with a fortune estimated at USD4.2 billion although some estimates suggested her real worth may have been closer to USD13 billion.
With no children of her own, Wang wrote a new will in 2006, two years after her ovarian cancer was diagnosed, making 48-year-old Chan her sole beneficiary. However, her sisters and other relatives filed suit to fight for her estate, which was originally shared between charities and family members in an earlier 2002 will.
Chan is an expert in feng shui, the ancient Chinese practice of placement and arrangement of space to achieve harmony with the environment, and is consulted by property developers for readings.