The feng shui master and the billionaire

Reuters

ON TRIAL: Peter Chan enters the High Court in Hong Kong.

The former lover and feng shui master to one of Asia's wealthiest women has been found guilty of forging a will that named him as the sole beneficiary of her multibillion-dollar estate in a case that has transfixed Hong Kong.

Peter Chan, 53, is facing a possible jail sentence after a jury convicted him of forging the will of the late eccentric billionaire widow Nina Wang, whose death from cancer in 2007 sparked an inheritance battle over her vast estate.

The long-running case has been one of Hong Kong's most colourful and high-profile legal sagas, in which the court heard detailed descriptions of adultery, bizarre rituals associated with feng shui and the physical relationship between Chan and Wang, who was 23 years his senior.

Chan claimed that Wang left him US$4 billion through a 2006 will, in part because they had been lovers for 15 years.

But after more than 20 hours of deliberations, the jury voted six to two in the High Court in Hong Kong to convict Chan, formerly known as Tony Chan, on a charge of forgery and using a false instrument. He faces a maximum jail term of 14 years for each offence.

Wang, who was also known by the nickname "Little Sweetie", was an eccentric figure known for her pig-tails, short skirts and colourful dress sense.

She was the widow of Hong Kong industrialist Teddy Wang, who was kidnapped in 1990 and was never seen again. In 1999 he was declared legally dead, and his body has never been found.

The Wangs' Chinachem Group was Hong Kong's largest private property developer, earning them billions in property deals.

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The feng shui master and the billionaire