Nina Wang is known for her exuberant dress sense

The 66-year-old businesswoman appeared in a Hong Kong court on Friday, charged with forging documents and perverting the course of justice.

She was granted bail and ordered to appear in court again in March.

Mrs Wang's husband, Teddy, was kidnapped in 1990 and never seen again. He was declared legally dead in 1999.

His wife and father have been embroiled in an acrimonious dispute over his estate ever since.

In late 2002, a court ruled that a will which appeared to have been hand-written by Teddy Wang, leaving his $128m fortune entirely to his wife, had been falsified.

The judge decided that Nina Wang had probably forged the document.

The money was then handed over to Teddy Wang's father, Wan Din-shin.

The Wang story has captivated Hong Kong because of its mix of high-finance, sex and deceit.

Since her husband's disappearance, Nina Wang - known for her pigtails and exuberant dress-sense - has built his company, Chinachem Group, into a major property developer.

During the protracted battle over the will, Wang Din-shin accused Nina Wang of adultery, showing the court pictures of her with an alleged lover.