Feng shui master jailed for forgery

by Aaron Tam, Agence France-Presse Posted on 07/05/2013 6:12 PM |Updated 07/05/2013 6:44 PM

THE 'CHARLATAN.' A judge called feng shui master Tony Chan 'shameless and wicked' for forging the will of a woman who was once Hong Kong's richest. Photo from AFP

HONG KONG - A "charlatan" who claimed to be the lover of a late Hong Kong billionaire was jailed on July 5 for 12 years after a court convicted him of forging her will in a bid to steal her fortune.

Bartender-turned-feng shui master Tony Chan had claimed to be the sole beneficiary of Nina Wang's US$13-B estate, which she inherited after the kidnapping and disappearance of her property mogul husband.

A court had ruled in 2010 3 years after Wang's death that a will in Chan's possession was fake. After more than 20 hours of deliberation, a jury on July 4 found him guilty of forging the document.

Sentencing the 53-year-old, judge Andrew Macrae on July 5 described his conduct as "shameless and wicked as well as borne of unparalleled greed."

"Forgery of a will is particularly nasty and insidious," said Macrae, as the deceased "can't answer back."

"You are no doubt a clever, and no doubt beguiling, charlatan," the judge said, describing his actions as "cruel and egregious."

Chan lowered his head into his hands when the sentence was read out before a courtroom packed with reporters, and smiled as he left the dock.

The sensational case has gripped the former British colony and generated blanket media coverage for years, with Chan often cast as a fraudster who duped Wang by promising to find her kidnapped husband and cure her of cancer.

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Feng shui master jailed for forgery