Got ripped off $800,000 and did not notice

[Hafizzz]

Tony Chan Driver Charged With Running Up Tab
Tony Chan Driver Charged With Running Up Tab - WSJ.com

According to U.S. prosecutors, a New York-area limousine driver cheated Hong Kong's most notorious feng shui master out of $794,986 after driving him into midtown Manhattan two years ago.

Tony Chan, a Hong Kong multimillionaire who quickly became one of the most talked-about men in Asia after mounting an unsuccessful legal battle for the fortune of deceased property heiress Nina Wang, may have the upper hand in this case.

Prosecutors say Mr. Chan was charged the rightful sum for the 13-mile ride from New Jersey's Teterboro Airport in July 2008. But Mr. Chan's ultimate tab multiplied after the driver, identified by federal prosecutors as Peter Rahhaoui, used the feng shui master's American Express card to ring up nearly $800,000 over the next four months.

All the while, it appears, Mr. Chan had other things on his mind than to glance through his AmEx statements, which he seems to have paid. During those four months, Mr. Chan was under siege by Hong Kong photographers encamped outside his gated compound in Hong Kong's tony Mid-Levels district, after staking a claim to the Chinachem fortune of Ms. Wang.

An email to Mr. Chan's lawyer in Hong Kong hasn't been answered.

In December 2008, just months before the probate trial was to begin, the limo company's bank spotted the irregularities and contacted AmEx and the federal authorities. AmEx said Monday that its policy is to not comment on continuing investigation s.

A lawyer for Mr. Rahhaoui, Steven Losquadro, said in a phone interview Monday that his client had pleaded not guilty, and said that the case is still in an "active investigative stage."

"All parties are attempting to gather as much information as possible about what happened concerning the allegations in the case, and what activities the alleged victim Mr. Chan has truly been engaged in," Mr. Losquadro said. He declined to elaborate on which of Mr. Chan's activities he was referring to.

According to court documents, Mr. Rahhaoui was set to fly to Hong Kong to attend a deposition later this month, though Mr. Rahhaoui said that the two parties were working to reschedule the deposition.

The initial sealed complaint, filed by U.S. Secret Service agent Kwame Davis last July, says Mr. Chan got involved in the case, supplying documents to Hong Kong and U.S. authorities to prove he was outside the U.S. during the period when the charges were being rung up. Mr. Chan also turned over a cellphone number that matched Mr. Rahhaoui's and identified the driver's image out of a stack of photographs.

The complaint, now accessible on the federal court system's website, was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal on Monday. The federal case against Mr. Rahhaoui was reported by the New York Post on Monday.

The alleged scam against Mr. Chan is the latest twist in a legal quagmire over one of Asia's great family fortunes—a two-decade-long story that has captivated Hong Kong.

Mr. Chan burst onto the public stage after the death of Ms. Wang in 2007, claiming to be Ms. Wang's feng shui master, as well as her lover and beneficiary. Feng shui is a complex system of beliefs about the influence of stars, geography and the location of objects on people's lives. During the trial, Mr. Chan described elaborate rituals that he conducted with Ms. Wang, including digging holes in the basement of buildings late at night.

Ms. Wang herself had won control of her husband Teddy Wang's multibillion-dollar Chinachem property empire in 2005 after his kidnapping and disappearance in 1990. She had fought protracted court battle with Mr. Wang's father that involved three competing wills.

Ms. Wang, the self-appointed "chairlady" of her husband's property empire after his disappearance, fostered a reputation for frugality, boasting in interviews that she spent less than $400 a month on herself by eating at KFC and McDonald's. She also appeared publicly in bright miniskirts and bouncing pigtails that earned her the Cantonese nickname Siu Tim Tim, or Little Sweetie.

As for Mr. Chan, a Hong Kong judge in February rejected the feng shui master's claims on Ms. Wang's estate, calling the will that he produced a "forgery." The next day, police arrested Mr. Chan in relation to possible forgery and seized documents and computers from his gated residence. Mr. Chan has denied those allegations, and is appealing the probate ruling.

Everyone is ripping off each other. LOL