Ex-fung shui master officially bankrupt

Sophie Hui

Former fung shui master Peter Chan Chun-chuen has been declared bankrupt after failing to pay HK$28.4 million in legal fees to Nina Wang Kung Yu-sum's charitable foundation.

Chan, 61, had been sentenced to 12 years for forging a will in a bid to inherit Wang's multibillion-dollar estate. His sentence was reduced by a third for good behavior and he was released from Stanley Prison on July 3 after spending eight years in jail.

Chinachem Charitable Foundation filed a bankruptcy proceeding against Chan to the High Court last September.

Yesterday, Chan requested the court to give him time to apply for legal aid and to persuade his wife to sell the properties they co-owned and where his wife and his mother-in-law reside.

Chan told the court that he had been borrowing money from relatives and friends while he was in jail and had paid half of the HK$50 million legal fees of Chinachem.

Chan said he has no bank account and credit card and has been staying in friends' homes following his release after filing for divorce from his wife in 2017.

Chan said the bankruptcy order will not affect him as "I do not have any money." But he is worried it will affect his lawsuit in a Xiamen court that will hear his allegations that a witness in his will-forgery case was suspected of giving false testimony.

High Court Justice Linda Chan Ching-fan said apart from owing HK$28.4 million to Chinachem, Chan also owes the Inland Revenue Department almost HK$300 million apart from "another huge debt" to the administrator of Wang's legacy.

Chan said since one of the parties would file a bankruptcy order against the debtor if he continued not to pay, the court granted a bankruptcy order.

Speaking after the hearing, Chan said he will not rule out filing an appeal against the order.

"I have in fact gone bankrupt already as I do not and will not have any money," he said.

"And the order will also not make me lose face - I have already been embarrassed to the max."

The bankruptcy order, he added, will actually free him from his debts. Chan said he also does not plan to get a job

He said he will focus on the Xiamen lawsuit that will start in November.

sophie.hui@singtaonewscorp.com