Feng shui master Tony Chan smiles as he leaves a building in Hong Kong on February 2. The High Court rejected his claim to the huge estate of late billionaire Nina Wang yesterday. AFP

HONG KONG: Feng shui master Tony Chan, who just lost his civil suit over Nina Wang's HK$100 billion fortune, is probably facing criminal charges of forgery.

High Court judge Johnson Lam ruled the 2006 will, which appointed Chan as the sole beneficiary of Wang's estate, is a fake, in the 300-page judgment yesterday.

As a criminal offense under the Hong Kong Crimes Ordinance, forgery carries a maximum penalty of imprisonment for 14 years.

Eric Cheung Tat-ming, associate professor of the Faculty of Law at the University of Hong Kong suggests that forgery may not be the only charge, if Chan is charged. "There is a chance that the police may also charge him with conspiracy to defraud," he said.

But experts believe it is still too early to tell whether the police will charge Chan for any criminal offense at this moment.

"The judge did not hold that Tony Chan was the forger. There is, however, likely to be a police investigation," said Patrick Hamlin, a lawyer at Withers who specializes in trust and succession litigation.

"The police need to investigate first, and see whether there is enough evidence to charge him," Cheung said.

Yesterday, the police indicated that they will later decide how to follow the case after studying the judgment with the Department of Justice.

"The Department of Justice may delay bringing any charges until all appeals are finished," Hamlin said.

The long battle over Nina Wang's fortune started last May, and is probably to continue, since Tony Chan declared he was going to appeal in a statement issued yesterday.

Cheung estimated that it might take another six months to one year if the case goes to the higher court.

The legal costs of this long battle are also expected to be very high.

"It is impossible to estimate accurately the cost of these proceedings, but each side will have spent many millions of dollars," said Hamlin.

Cheung also believes the legal cost is at least dozens of millions, probably over HK$100 million.

Feng Shui master Chan, however, is generally believed to be entangled in serious financial problems, even though he gained nearly HK$2.8 billion from Nina Wang over the course of 15 years.

Chan has begun to cash out many assets since March 2008. He sold off six luxury flats in Hong Kong and received a book income of about HK$180 million.

He also sold his personal jet for $26 million, both of the two world-class luxury yachts he owned, one for HK$20 million and another for over HK$100 million, as well as a limousine worth HK$8 million, the most expensive of his eight flashy cars.

(HK Edition 02/03/2010 page1)