The 67-year-old Wang, chairwoman of the Chinachem Group whose personal fortune is estimated by Forbes magazine at US$2.3 billion (HK$17.9 billion), was formally charged more than two years after her arrest in December 2002 for allegedly forging the 1990 will of her late husband Teddy.

She was released on HK$5 million bail at the time.

Wang was accompanied by her team of lawyers and a phalanx of bodyguards when she appeared at the Eastern Magistrates' Court.

Jonathan Midgley, Wang's lawyer, said after the brief court hearing: ``The case has been pending for some time. Today, the only thing that has changed is that Mrs Wang now has the opportunity to establish her innocence in court. If you don't mind, we will leave all the talking to be done in court.''

He called the staggering HK$55 million bail ``perfectly reasonable.''

Wang was charged by the Commercial Crime Bureau with three counts.

The first of these was that between April 12, 1997, and January 16, 1998, Wang and another unknown party forged Teddy Wang's will, claiming the document, dated March 12, 1990, was his last will.

The second charge relates to allegations that Wang knowingly used the forged will on January 16, 1998, to induce someone to accept it as genuine.

The third count accuses Wang of perverting the course of justice. It was alleged that between January 16, 1998, and November 21, 2002, she produced the forged will in the Court of First Instance claiming it to be the last will and used it as her defense in the probate case between herself and her father-in-law Wang Din-shin.

Nina Wang, known for her colorful wardrobe, wore a burgundy Chinese-style blouse and a black mini-skirt when she appeared in court. She also sported a frizzy coiffure, having shed her trademark pigtails.

She appeared calm and collected in the brief hearing, telling the court that she fully understood the charges against her. Wang will have to return to court on March 23 for another hearing.

In the meantime, she is required to surrender all travel documents to the Commercial Crime Bureau and not to leave Hong Kong without first informing the bureau of her itinerary at least 48 hours in advance.

She is not allowed to contact directly or indirectly witnesses involved in this case or the ongoing legal dispute between herself and her father-in-law.

Wang has been embroiled in one of the most dramatic and riveting legal battles in recent Hong Kong history, a long duel with her 93-year-old father-in-law over control of her late husband's estate.

Wang Din-shin has accused her of committing adultery while married to his son.

The 1990 handwritten will named Nina Wang as the sole beneficiary of an estate valued then at about HK$1 billion.

Teddy Wang was kidnapped on April 10, 1990, and is presumed to have been murdered but his body has never been found. The contested will was written 28 days before the kidnapping.

Nina Wang managed the Chinachem Group, one of Hong Kong's largest private property developers, after Teddy's disappearance, and transformed it into a HK$27 billion business empire.

She was given approval by the Court of Appeal in November last year to go to the Court of Final Appeal to contest control of her husband's estate, following consecutive defeats in the lower court and the same appellate court.

It is understood that she will lose much of her fortune if the estate goes to her father-in-law.

jonathan.li@globalchina.com