The Hong Kong High Court sent to jail for 12 years on Friday Feng Shui expert Peter Chan for forging the will of Nina Wang, once the richest woman in Asia who was his lover.

In sentencing the geomancer to jail, Justice Andrew Macrae said Mr Chan forged a document to make it appear that he is the sole heir of Ms Wang, whose wealth is estimated at $4 billion. He said that being lovers, she promised to leave all her wealth to him.

The judge pointed out that besides forging the billionaire's will, Mr Chan also exploited his relations with her by getting large amounts of money during her final years, imitating plots in soap operas marked by shameless and unparalleled greed and lust. Two days before she died, Mr Chan got 30 million sterling from his sick lover. She died of cancer in 2007 at the age of 69.

Her business empire includes owning Chinachem Group, the largest property developer in Hong Kong. She inherited the money from her husband, Teddy, who was kidnapped in 1990 and is believed killed even if the family paid a ransom of $33 million.

"Never once ... have you shown the slightest remorse for you conduct ... you took full advantage of her sadness, loneliness and tragic life," the judge said, quoted by Reuters.

Mr Chan used the Chinese belief in Feng Shui, which allegedly creates harmony in surroundings by harnessing natural energies through the location of a property or arrangement of a house's interior, to gain money from the relationship.

Now 53, Mr Chan admitted to the court he had a passionate sexual relationship with the billionaire who was older than him by over 20 years.

Besides the jail term, the judge also ordered Mr Chan to pay the legal cost of the trial, amounting to $257,900.

Ms Wang's wealth was bequeathed to a charitable foundation run by her family.