Asia's richest woman, Ms Nina Wang, began a court battle with her father-in-law yesterday over the multi-billion-dollar estate left by her late husband, a property tycoon who vanished more than a decade ago.
Central to the six-week probate hearing is a handwritten will which Ms Wang says was penned by her husband, Teddy, in March 1990, a month before he was kidnapped and never seen again. He was declared legally dead in September 1999.
The will named Ms Wang as sole executor and beneficiary of his estate, including Chinachem Group, Hong Kong's largest private property developer.
But Teddy's father, Mr Wang Din-shin (90), says the will was forged. He wants the court to recognise a March 1968 will in which Teddy made him the sole executor and beneficiary.
"The plaintiff's case is that the 1968 will is the last valid will and that the 1990 will was not signed by the deceased," Ms Wang's lawyer, Mr Edward Chan, told a packed court.
At stake is Ms Wang's fortune, which Forbes magazine recently estimated at $3.7 billion, with Chinachem Group making up the bulk of it.
Ms Wang was not in court yesterday but was expected to be called to testify. She was represented by a five-member legal team headed by Mr Martin Lee, one of Hong Kong's most prominent lawyers and pro-democracy figures.
At 64, Ms Wang is Hong Kong's best recognised woman for her immense wealth, hallmark pigtails and often eccentric dress.
She was thrust into the forefront of Hong Kong's business circles after the abduction of her husband, who was then Hong Kong's 13th wealthiest man.
Chinachem, which dealt in agricultural chemicals, was founded by Mr Wang senior in Shanghai and passed to his son after the family moved to Hong Kong in 1949.
The company took off in the 1960s when Teddy moved into property and bought up land in Hong Kong's New Territories area. The group now boasts more than 200 properties in Hong Kong.
The world was given a peek at Ms Wang's ambitions in the 1990s when she unveiled plans to build the world's tallest skyscraper, the $1.3 billion, 108-storey Nina Tower.
When asked by reporters how she was going to fund it, she replied: "Cash".
The government shelved the plan in 1997, citing height restrictions.
Hong Kong's anti-graft agency said yesterday it had arrested 16 people, including a civil servant, for alleged corruption related to public housing.