Fung shui 'master' Tony Chan sells Mid-Levels site to pay off debts

He may have had to trim the asking price by a hefty HK$170 million, but self-styled fung shui master Tony Chan Chun-chuen has finally sold the site of his former house in Mid-Levels for HK$380 million.

The money will help him to settle debts arising from his legal battle over the estate of late billionaire Nina Wang Kung Yu-sum.

Lands Registry information shows Chan sold the site at 16 Bowen Road on August 24. The buyer, said by property agents to be a mainlander, bought the site through a company registered in the British Virgin Islands. His former home on the site, Caronia, has been demolished.

Chan, 52, had earlier tried to sell the property for HK$550 million to pay legal fees amassed in his unsuccessful fight with the Chinachem Charitable Foundation over the estimated HK$50 billion estate of Wang, who he said was his lover.

In August, he appointed an agency to put the property up for tender and cut the asking price to HK$450 million. While the tender was to have closed on September 12, Chan agreed to sell for an amount 16 per cent less than the asking price before the deadline.

The proceeds from the sale are not enough to pay his debts. He owes the Chinachem Charitable Foundation HK$230 million in legal costs and also has a bill for HK$330 million in unpaid taxes.