Tale of wills, wealth and Wang ends in court

Hong Kong - The richest woman in Hong Kong lost a battle for her late husband's multimillion-dollar estate Thursday, ending a saga that titillated the territory for years, a lawyer said Thursday.

High Court Justice David Yam ruled that Nina Wang had given the court a forged will that was produced a month before her husband, Teddy Wang, was kidnapped in 1990. He was never seen again.

"I have no doubt that the questioned signatures ... are forged signatures and the 1990 documents are forged documents," the judge wrote in a 500-page ruling.

Teddy Wang's estate, valued at more than $128 million, will go to his 90-year-old father, Wang Din-shin. He had contested Nina Wang's document and produced a 1968 will he said his son made after suspecting Nina Wang of adultery.

Wang Din-shin's lawyer Can Kwok-ming said he didn't know how much money his client would get. Nina Wang's lawyers declined comment.

Wang was abducted as he left Hong Kong's exclusive Jockey Club in April 1990, and the family paid a $33 million ransom. He wasn't freed.

Several people allegedly involved in the kidnapping were later captured and said that Wang, 56, was kept aboard a small Chinese boat and was later thrown into the sea. His body was never found.

Nina Wang, who is nicknamed "Little Sweetie" in Cantonese and wears garish outfits and pigtails, insisted Teddy Wang was alive and would someday return to her.

After her husband's disappearance, Nina Wang built the company Chinachem into a massive private property developer, with office towers and apartment complexes spread throughout the territory.

Teddy Wang finally was declared dead in 1999.

Forbes magazine recently estimated Nina Wang's worth at $2.4 billion. The exact value of her husband's estate is unclear, but her lawyer has said it was more than $128 million.

Wang had been kidnapped once before, in 1983. He was released after an $11 million ransom was paid.

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