Nina Wang

[winston]

Top court rejects Tony Chan tax appeal

The Court of Final Appeal has rejected fung shi master Tony Chan’s tax appeal against a HK$340 million tax liability, local media reports said.

Seeking leave to appeal to Hong Kong's top court against the tax assessments, Mr Chan's lawyer argued that his client was unable to raise objections in time, because he simply did not know the assessments existed, RTHK reports.

He said the Inland Revenue Department had posted the documents to a law firm that previously represented Mr Chan, and wrongly assumed that they would be forwarded to him. However, a lawyer for the government said the duty to provide a valid address rests on the taxpayer, not the government.

The taxation department is now expected to proceed to recover the overdue payment from assets earlier frozen by a court order

The three-judge panel will hand down reasons for the dismissal at a later date.


Source: The Standard HK

[winston]

Wang fortune a whopping $83b by Winnie Chong

Asia's former richest woman left behind an HK$83 billion fortune - HK$23 billion more than unofficial estimates.

The figure, revealed in the High Court yesterday, is the first time the actual amount was disclosed since Nina Wang Kung Yu-sum died in April 2007.

The secretary for justice had asked the court to interpret Wang's will and to determine whether Chinachem Charitable Foundation, to which the tycoon left her entire estate, should be considered a beneficiary or a trustee.

The secretary for justice is involved in the case as the protector of charities under Hong Kong law.

British barrister Simon Taube QC, for the secretary for justice, told the court that the foundation is a trustee of Wang's estate.

He said if Chinachem is the sole beneficiary, it has the power to decide how to deal with the estate. But such could alter the mission statements in the will and might violate its intention.

Taube said the foundation does not have the experience in managing assets as it had only HK$5 million in 2002 after being set up in 1999. By the end of 2007 the foundation only had HK$3.2 million.

Wang's will also stated that the foundation should be monitored by an organization jointly selected by the secretary-general of the United Nations, China's premier and the chief executive of Hong Kong.

The counsel added that if the foundation is declared a trustee, those in charge are obliged to manage the estate in accordance to the will - including the setting up of a Chinese prize similar to the Nobel Prize to promote education and peace.

He said the will suggests Wang wanted the foundation to work for charitable purposes.

Taube said words like "must" and "have responsibility" contained in the will indicate that Wang wanted the foundation to follow her commands.

The will also stated that the foundation has the responsibility to take care of the family of Wang's late husband Teddy Wang Teh-huei.

Taube said if the foundation is the beneficiary, it could ignore those clauses.

He also said Wang's brother Kung Yan-sum has said he only knew that the foundation should make donations, but did not know of other plans.

The hearing is expected to last three days.

http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_deta ... con_type=3

[winston]

Lover of late Hong Kong tycoon jailed 12 years for will forgery

HONG KONG (Reuters) - A Hong Kong judge on Friday jailed a former lover of late billionaire tycoon Nina Wang for 12 years for forging a will naming him the sole heir to one of Asia's largest fortunes, estimated at $4 billion.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/ ... EnoughNews

[winston]

Nina `feng shui master' appeals by Jasmine Siu

The trial of a former self- proclaimed feng shui master which resulted in him being jailed for 12 years for forging the will of late tycoon Nina Wang Kung Yu-sum, was unfair due to adverse publicity that elevated him to the status of a celebrity, the Court of Appeal heard.

A High Court jury found Peter Chan Chi-chuen formerly known as Tony Chan guilty in July 2013 of forging Wang's will and using that forgery to persuade people that he was the true beneficiary of her estate.

Chan, 55, is seeking leave to appeal against conviction and sentence.

Defense counsel James Wood, QC, said a fair trial is impossible for Chan, given its pre- trial prejudicial publicity garnered from worldwide attention.

Media reports had a tendency to scandalize, he said, and there was a climate of "uniquely adverse prejudicial injustice" against his client.

Wood said Chan was never in the public eye before the probate trial but his claim to fame was "an elephant in the room" for all potential jurors before they were even empaneled as they would have seen the widespread media coverage.

That unfairness was exacerbated by the evidence presented in trial, when the ruling in the previous probate proceedings, that the will was forged, was admitted before the jury.

Instead of directly relying on material from the probate proceedings, Wood said a fair trial requires that material be excluded and only be brought to court by calling the witnesses to testify.

Wood said trial judge Andrew Macrae should have taken appropriate measures to address the inevitable media influence and ensure a fair trial is conducted, after noting that jury direction he gave was "wholly inadequate."

He also argued that Macrae should have given a fuller direction to the jury, to explain that findings by the judge in the probate proceedings are irrelevant to them as they would not be aware of the evidence presented before the civil court judge and that the burden of proof for a criminal trial is different to a civil hearing.

"The ultimate duty to get things right falls on the trial judge," Wood said.

Criminal proceedings against Chan came after a civil probate hearing, in which Chan claimed he is to take over Wang's Chinachem Group in accordance to her "ultimate will" dated 2006.

But the High Court in 2010 ruled against his favor, and Chan was arrested that February on forgery charges.

The hearing continues before Court of Appeal judges Michael Lunn, Jeremy Poon Shiu-chor and Derek Pang Wai-cheong.

Wang was once reputed as Asia's richest woman, with her estate valued at more than HK$83 billion following her death from cancer in April 2007.

Source: The Standard