Chan wife tells of meeting with 'goddaughter' Nina (07-03 20:43)
Fung shui master Tony Chan Chun-chuen, his wife and late tycoon Nina Wang Kung Yu-sum, whom he claims was his lover, travelled to Beijing together in 1998 and Wang called the wife ''godmother'' when they were introduced to each other.
The claims came as Chan's wife Tam Miu-ching testified in court for the first time in the probate battle between her husband and the Chinachem Charitable Foundation for the estate of the late Chinachem Group tycoon.
Tam said he and Chan first met in 1989 when she was a tour guide and he was part of a tour group, started living together with him eight or nine months later, and they formalized their relationship in March 1992.
She told the Court of First Instance Wang visited them at their Sha Tin apartment the same year.
Chan introduced the tycoon to his wife as her goddaughter and Wang addressed Tam as ''godmother'' and gave her a piece of jade as a gift.
Tam and Chan had a wedding banquet six months after they registered their marriage, but Tam told the court she did not know that Wang had given Chan HK$5 million to fund it.
She and Chan started buying luxury properties in 1993 and 1994, but Tam said she did not ask her husband where he got the money to buy them from.
The wife said she first started having suspicions about Wang and Chan, who was 23 years younger than the tycoon, during their trip together to Beijing in August 1998 because her husband was spending a lot of time with the tycoon, especially at night.
Tam told the court that, on the day that the tycoon finally won a court fight against her father-in-law Wang Din-shin for the Chinachem empire, Chan mentioned to her that Wang had named him heir to her estate in a will.
Under cross-examination, Tam told the court she she never asked her husband how he came by the enormous sums of money merely by providing fung shui services.
She said she didn't care where the money came from and admitted she didn't mind sharing Chan's fortune.
When Chinachem Charitable Foundation lawyer Denis Chang asked if she knew her husband made the money by massaging Wang on top of giving her fung shui advice. Tam said she saw no problem with that.
Tam said the whole family had traveled abroad on Chan's private jet a few times.
Chang presented information on 17 properties that were once owned by Chan, Tam and their company.
Tam said she did take a look at some of the properties before buying them but that she has no recollection of the transactions.
She said Chan never brought up the matter of giving up their children to Wang for adoption but that she would have said no if he did.
Chan's brother Bobby Chan Chun-kwok took the witness stand after Tam finished.
He said he drove to Chinachem's headquarters at night several times between 1993 and 1995.
His brother would then meet him at the car park and give him huge sums of cash everytime, usually tens of millions, in bags to deposit in the bank the next day.
Bobby Chan said he never asked his brother about where the money came from but believes it came from Wang.
The hearing continues.
http://www.thestandard.com.hk/breaking_news_detail.asp?id=15463&icid=3&d_str=20090703
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