April 05, 2007	Thursday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 16, 1428

HONG KONG: Asia’s richest woman, Nina Wang, has died of an unspecified illness after reports she had been battling cancer, leaving unanswered questions over her estimated $4.2 billion fortune.

Known for her signature pigtails and nicknamed “little sweetie” by the local media, Wang, 69, won a court case in 2005 for her late husband’s business empire in a case filled with tales of adultery, kidnapping and murder. The Hong Kong heiress, whose maiden name was Kung, was reported by local newspapers to be suffering from cancer, but that was never officially confirmed.

“Chinachem Group’s chairwoman Nina Wang Kung passed away on April 3 and the details of the funeral will be announced later,” her personal assistant, Ringo Wong, said.

Wang’s company, Hong Kong’s largest private property developer, Chinachem Group, confirmed in a statement that she died on Tuesday. Wang, ranked by Forbes Magazine as Asia’s 35th richest person, had no children but is survived by at least one brother and reportedly other siblings.

Lawyer Wong Tak-sing said under Hong Kong law Nina Wang’s brothers and sisters could apply to inherit her fortune if she did not have a will. Wang’s nieces or nephews could share the wealth as well if their parents had died. Wang successfully battled her father-in-law for a multi-billion dollar estate left by her late husband Teddy Wang, a property tycoon who vanished more than a decade ago.—Reuters