Second Wife of Tycoon William Mong Man-wai Accuses First Wife of Interfering With Her Inheritance

Wong Pui-fan, the second wife of rice-cooker tycoon William Mong Man-wai, brought an accusation against his first wife, Serena Yang Hsueh-chi. Specifically, Wong stated that Serena has interfered by attempting to control Shun Hing Group, her late-husband's company, which would interfere with "her entitlement under Mong's will."

The court who was hearing this case heard testimony that Mong had opened a trust in the British Virgin Islands and made his second wife and his children the sole beneficiaries of the trust. In addition, the court also heard evidence that "[f]our Shun Hung subsidiaries and a related firm sued Mong's estate for about HK$1.9 billion in debt in April." Furthermore, Yang filed a writ claiming that her and her daughters were entitled to distributions from a Huge Surplus Trust. The trust in question here held half of the Shun Hing Holdings.

In this case, Wong's lawyers appealed to challenge a court order that allowed the executors of the estate to withdraw "funds from the estate to oppose Wong's request for documents." The executors and their lawyer claim that they refused the documents for privacy reasons, reasoning that Mong's rights continue after his death. The justices of this court reserved their decision on this matter. 

See Austin Chlu, Legal Row Over Assets of Late Tycoon William Mong Man-wai, South China Morning Post, Nov. 24, 2012.

Special thanks to Brian Cohan (Attorney at Law, Law Offices of Brian J. Cohan, P.C.) for bringing this article to my attention.