Hong Kong - A court battle over the multibillion-dollar fortune of Nina Wang, Asia's richest woman, who left her money to a secret lover in a disputed will, was coming to a close in Hong Kong Monday with lawyers on both sides delivering their closing addresses. The case has been a regular feature in Hong Kong papers since it started in May, fascinating the public with tales of secret love, deception and mystical feng shui rites.
It centres on the will of pigtailed billionaire Wang, head of the ChinaChem property empire, who died at 69 of ovarian cancer in 2007, leaving her entire fortune of 13 billion US dollars to her feng shui master Tony Chan.
During the 38 days of submissions, the court heard from the lawyer representing Wang's family through the ChinaChem Foundation that there was "very strong evidence" that the will signed in 2006 was a forgery.
They claimed it was a feng shui prop only intended to prolong the life of Wang and was not a legal document.
They also argued that Wang, known as "Little Sweetie" because of her style of dress and pigtails, was critically ill with cancer at the time the document was drawn up and not well enough to sign a will.
On the other side, lawyers representing 48-year-old Chan said Wang had made a conscious and deliberate decision to leave the fortune to Chan.
They claimed he had been Wang's lover for 14 years, meeting under the pretence of arranging sessions of feng shui, a traditional Chinese practice of divining the elements such as wind and water to ensure good fortune.
It was argued that Wang had wanted to bear Chang a child and had called him "husband."
In a closing speech Monday, Chan's counsel said claims of the lawyers representing Wang's family had distorted a "loving, caring and happy relationship" between his client and Wang.
The judge was expected to take six months to hand down a decision.
However, the saga is likely to be drawn out for years with most observers and those involved believing any decision is likely to be appealed.
The alleged affair between Wang and Chan is said to have begun two years after Wang's tycoon husband, Teddy, was kidnapped in 1990, never to reappear.
Wang inherited the Chinachem empire after Teddy's disappearance, confounding critics by building it up into a multibillion-dollar business conglomerate.
Ironically, she fought a long legal battle herself with her elderly father-in-law, who claimed Teddy's will leaving his fortune to her was also a forgery. She ultimately won the case.
Despite her enormous wealth, Wang was notoriously frugal, once claiming she needed only around 400 US dollars a month to live.
