New York, July 26 (Newswire): Chan Chun-chuen, the geomancer and lover of late Hong Kong property tycoon Nina Wang, was sentenced to 12 years in prison for forging a 2006 will that made him the beneficiary of her $10.7 billion fortune.
Chan's conduct was "shameless and wicked, as well as borne of unparalleled greed," High Court Judge Andrew Macrae said in pronouncing the sentence today. Forging a will is "particularly nasty and insidious" because the dead person can't speak her true intention, he said.
Former fung shui practitioner Peter Chan Chun-chuen sits inside a prison van after being convicted of forging a will to claim the fortune of the late tycoon Nina Wang by a High Court jury on July 4, 2013 in Hong Kong. Photograph: Lam Yik Fei/Getty Images
Enlarge image Former Feng Shui Practitioner Peter Chan Chun-chuen
Peter Chan Chun-chuen, former Feng shui practitioner, enters the High Court in Hong Kong on July 4, 2013. Photographer: Lam Yik Fei/Getty Images
Chan lost a five-year legal battle for Wang's estimated HK$83 billion ($10.7 billion) fortune in 2011, with the will in his favor found to be a forgery and the estate awarded to Wang's charity foundation. Wang, once Asia's richest woman, who died from uterine cancer in 2007, had herself fought her father-in-law for six years over the fortune.
Chan had argued that Wang left him the money in part because they had been lovers for 15 years. Chan, who is married with children, said he was hired by Wang in 1992 to help find her husband, Teddy, who had been kidnapped for a second time in 1990. Teddy Wang was declared legally dead in 1999 and his body was never found.
Chan was convicted by an eight-member jury yesterday of the forgery, and using a false instrument. Macrae also sentenced Chan to 12 years on the second offense, to be served concurrently with the first. He faced as many as 14 years for each conviction.
Feng Shui
Chan dug holes at various sites owned by the Chinachem Group for seven years in his role as Wang's feng shui adviser or geomancer, receiving about HK$2.1 billion from her between 2005 and 2006, according to a court judgment. His lawyers said the payments were intended to groom him for managing her estate.
Feng shui, literally translated as "wind and water," is a 5,000-year-old Chinese practice of arranging the physical environment to harmonize with the daily lives of people who live within it. Feng shui masters used the practice to advise emperors on the best locations for their palaces and tombs.
Chan recently renounced the practice and converted to Christianity, and said he prayed while the jury spent more than nine hours considering its verdict, the South China Morning Post reported.
In explaining his reasoning in the sentencing, Macrae said he considered Chan's crimes to be of the worst category, and that Chan showed no remorse for his actions.
It wasn't just the vast fortune involved, Macrae said, "but the shameless dishonoring of a woman" who had given Chan great trust and friendship during her life.
Chan's conduct was "shameless and wicked, as well as borne of unparalleled greed," High Court Judge Andrew Macrae said in pronouncing the sentence today. Forging a will is "particularly nasty and insidious" because the dead person can't speak her true intention, he said.
Former fung shui practitioner Peter Chan Chun-chuen sits inside a prison van after being convicted of forging a will to claim the fortune of the late tycoon Nina Wang by a High Court jury on July 4, 2013 in Hong Kong. Photograph: Lam Yik Fei/Getty Images
Enlarge image Former Feng Shui Practitioner Peter Chan Chun-chuen
Peter Chan Chun-chuen, former Feng shui practitioner, enters the High Court in Hong Kong on July 4, 2013. Photographer: Lam Yik Fei/Getty Images
Chan lost a five-year legal battle for Wang's estimated HK$83 billion ($10.7 billion) fortune in 2011, with the will in his favor found to be a forgery and the estate awarded to Wang's charity foundation. Wang, once Asia's richest woman, who died from uterine cancer in 2007, had herself fought her father-in-law for six years over the fortune.
Chan had argued that Wang left him the money in part because they had been lovers for 15 years. Chan, who is married with children, said he was hired by Wang in 1992 to help find her husband, Teddy, who had been kidnapped for a second time in 1990. Teddy Wang was declared legally dead in 1999 and his body was never found.
Chan was convicted by an eight-member jury yesterday of the forgery, and using a false instrument. Macrae also sentenced Chan to 12 years on the second offense, to be served concurrently with the first. He faced as many as 14 years for each conviction.
Feng Shui
Chan dug holes at various sites owned by the Chinachem Group for seven years in his role as Wang's feng shui adviser or geomancer, receiving about HK$2.1 billion from her between 2005 and 2006, according to a court judgment. His lawyers said the payments were intended to groom him for managing her estate.
Feng shui, literally translated as "wind and water," is a 5,000-year-old Chinese practice of arranging the physical environment to harmonize with the daily lives of people who live within it. Feng shui masters used the practice to advise emperors on the best locations for their palaces and tombs.
Chan recently renounced the practice and converted to Christianity, and said he prayed while the jury spent more than nine hours considering its verdict, the South China Morning Post reported.
In explaining his reasoning in the sentencing, Macrae said he considered Chan's crimes to be of the worst category, and that Chan showed no remorse for his actions.
It wasn't just the vast fortune involved, Macrae said, "but the shameless dishonoring of a woman" who had given Chan great trust and friendship during her life.
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