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A former mistress of “King of Shoes” Patrick Tang Kim-kwan on Friday won ownership of a Tai Kok Tsui flat after a court ruled that it was a gift bought for the woman to ease her anxiety over their uncertain relationship.
Karen Lee Chi-ting, 43, known as Tang’s “third wife”, has convinced the Court of Appeal that a lower court judge earlier failed to grasp Tang’s real intention behind his purchase of the Metro Harbour View flat in 2003.
Tang, 70, is the billionaire head of the shoe-trading empire ATG Sourcing and has an estimated fortune of HK$2 billion. He bought the flat for HK$1.71 million.
Tang had said in Chinese that he bought the flat in Lee’s name to give her a property to “hold onto” and to receive the rental income.
The lower court judge, Anthony Houghton SC, who does not understand Chinese, found that the word “hold onto”, as translated, was equivocal. The then deputy judge ruled that it did not show a clear intention of Tang to buy it as a gift for Lee and that Lee was holding the flat in trust for Tang.
In the written judgment, Mr Justice Andrew Cheung Kui-nung said the Chinese term was generally understood to provide the recipient “security”, “comfort” and control.
“In my view, all in all, that the property was intended to be a gift and understood to be so is the more natural and proper inference to be drawn, once the meaning of the actual Chinese words used is fully appreciated,” Cheung wrote.
“’To hold onto’ is as good a translation as any for the Chinese words used. But in this court, we have the advantage of working on the original Chinese words,” he wrote.
Lee can now keep the HK$2.1 million she made by selling the flat in December 2005.
The court also ruled that Lee can keep the profits to be made by reselling a Royal Peninsula flat bought in Lee’s name as it was an agreement between Tang and Lee that the flat was bought for a quick resale to make profit, which would be given to Lee.
Lee should then repay Tang HK$2.68 million, which he provided her for buying the flat. Lee can keep the profit after paying for transaction expenses and repaying the rental income generated throughout the years to Tang.
He had previously said he waged the court battle because he was “sad and embarrassed” by Lee’s fling with former Mr Hong Kong Francois Huynh, which was exposed by a magazine in 2009. News of the secret romance ended Lee and Tang’s seven-year relationship.
In June 2012, the Court of First Instance ruled that Tang could not regain two other properties – an office in Jordan and half-ownership of a house at Marine Cove in Sai Kung – which together are now worth more than HK$20 million.
The mistress of a tycoon dubbed the "Shoe King" who had an affair with a "Mr Hong Kong" was allowed to keep two of the four properties her wealthy lover gifted to her.
In a 25-page judgment, Deputy High Court Judge Anthony Houghton said both the mistress, Karen Lee Chi-ting, and her tycoon lover Patrick Tang Kim- kwan had made "unreliable" submissions.
The judge said their relationship was "one that could come to an end at a moment's notice." For this reason, Tang used properties "to continue and perhaps deepen his relationship" with Lee.
Tang, 69, filed the lawsuit in 2009 against Lee, 42, with whom he had a six- year relationship, demanding she hand back four properties worth more than HK$10 million because she broke an agreement not to have sex with anyone else.
The suit was filed after Tang discovered that Lee had an affair with former "Mr Hong Kong" Wong Cheung-fat, who was 16 years her junior.
The four properties, bought between 2003 and 2004 were: a flat at Metro Harbour View for HK$1.7 million; a house at Marina Cove for HK$6.13 million; a flat at Royal Peninsula for HK$2.68 million; and an office in Cheuk Nang Centre, Tsim Sha Tsui, for HK$722,000.
Lee said Tang bought the Metro Harbour View flat for her to rent out as a source of income, but Tang claimed he bought it as a "temporary shelter" for Lee and not as a gift.
The judge ruled Tang can keep the proceeds of this flat, which was sold in 2005 for HK$2.1 million.
Lee claimed Tang gave her the Royal Peninsula flat so she could engage in property investment for profit.
She claimed Tang promised to "help her out" as she did not have any money to invest.
But the judge did not see this as a gift to Lee but, rather, that it was intended to be bought and sold at a profit to be shared among Tang, Lee and Lee's brother Tim Lee Hon-kiu.
The judge ruled Tang can keep this flat.
The Marina Cove house was intended to be a family home for Lee, Tang and their daughter, according to the judge.
While Tang claimed Lee broke the no-sex agreement, the judge was not convinced that was a condition.
Explaining the agreement, Tang had claimed earlier: "On a daily basis we had talked about this. I would ask her, 'Well, if I buy a property and put it in your name and then you go away with another man, what do I do?' She said, 'I won't leave you.'"
The judge did not see this as an agreement, and ruled Lee can keep half the tenure of this property.
As for the Cheuk Nang Centre office, the judge ruled it was a gift to Lee.
Lee and "Mr Hong Kong" Wong said they fell in love at first sight when they met at a party in 2007.
The relationship between Tang and Lee deteriorated further after Wong openly declared his love and gave up his career in show business.
