Tony Chan Driver Charged With Running Up Tab

Doesn't this limo driver know whom he's messing with?

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.

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.