Self-styled fung shui master Tony Chan Chun-chuen is desperate to sell a Mid-Levels site for HK$400 million, as he missed another deadline to pay HK$80 million in legal fees yesterday.
Chan, who owes the Chinachem Charitable Foundation this amount from his botched bids to claim the HK$50 billion estate of the late tycoon Nina Wang Kung Yu-sum, has asked for an extension of the deadline. His bid to sell the land in Bowen Road, Mid-Levels, came after an unsuccessful attempt to mortgage the land and he has now priced the property lower than its estimated value of HK$500 million.
The HK$80 million bill covers the costs accrued at the Court of First Instance and is just one of many bills, totalling HK$230 million, that Chan must pay the foundation and the administrators of Wang's estates for failing to persuade the court that the billionaire businesswoman had left him her fortune in a will.
A person familiar with the case said Chinachem was considering granting Chan more time or asking the High Court to declare him bankrupt. If the court approves bankruptcy, Chan's assets - which he claims amount to about HK$700 million - would be sold and the proceeds distributed among creditors.
But Chinachem may not receive full payment if Chan's outstanding debts outweigh his assets.
Chan's lawyers had disclosed to Chinachem his correspondence with a potential buyer to persuade the charity foundation that he would be able to close the deal soon. Last month, Chinachem gave Chan an ultimatum after he missed a mid-June deadline to make the payment.
