Legal and police sources have indicated that the dismissal of Mr Justice David Yam Yee-kwan's earlier finding that some of the four documents purported to be Teddy Wang Teh-huei's will were 'probably written by the defendant herself' will make it harder for the police to prove their case against the richest woman in Asia.

On September 23, 1999, Mrs Wang's father-in-law, Wang Din-shin, upped the stakes in their mammoth probate tussle when he gained the leave of the court to report the will as a forgery to police.

Although an investigation was launched, it was not until December 11, 2002 - 20 days after Mr Justice Yam's judgment - that Mrs Wang was arrested by the Commercial Crime Bureau in connection with the allegations.

She was released on $5 million bail.

A police spokeswoman yesterday said Mrs Wang would have to report back to the crime bureau in the middle of next month in order to meet the conditions of her bail agreement.

'This case is under investigation and we obviously have to wait for documents and legal advice and at this stage we can't tell if Mrs Wang is going to be charged or not,' she said.

However, a senior police source said the court ruling could 'possibly be a blow' to the investigation. 'Probably the police would have to look into the judgment to see how the Court of Appeal made that comment,' the source said.

'Certainly this does not help the case against Nina Wang,' added this source.

The source said police would now seek legal advice from the Department of Justice on whether it was appropriate to proceed with the criminal case, based on the judgments.

A senior legal source also heralded yesterday's developments as a victory for the Nina Wang camp.

The source said: 'If I were Nina Wang, I would make a toast and I would be very happy, because if they fail the test in the civil standard, there is no chance to succeed in the higher standard for the criminal standard and there may even be no case to answer.

'She is clearly cleared of any criminal responsibility.'

But solicitor Andrew Lam Ping-cheong said it was very difficult to conclude one way or the other whether the Court of Appeal judges' comments affected the criminal investigation against Mrs Wang.

Mr Lam said the required standard of proof in a civil case, which is on the balance of probability, was lower than that needed in a criminal case.

He added that the evidence produced so far by Wang Din-shin in the probate hearing might be inferior to that obtained by the police. 'We do not know whether there is other evidence in support of allegations against Nina Wang that the will was forged,' Mr Lam said.

'The police are conducting an independent investigation.'

Mr Lam added: 'We have to wait and see if the police are in possession of more evidence other than the evidence introduced in Wang's trial.'

During the record-breaking probate hearing, Mrs Wang failed to take the stand.

Instead, she submitted detailed affidavits and witness statements in accordance with legal advice directing her to take the safest course and not expose herself to 'danger' considering Wang Din-shin had made a report of forgery to the police.