Supposed telekinetic qigong healer can't dispel skepticism(2)

MASTER OR CHARLATAN?

Wang lives in a five-story villa in Luxi County. With three Hummers and a Rolls-Royce parked in the yard, he is known as the county's richest person.

Wang was a no-show in court on Tuesday, when his trial over a property dispute with a former disciple opened in Nanchang City.

The Jiangxi Provincial Higher People's Court began hearing the case in which Zou Yong, a businessman who formally acknowledged Wang as his master before November 2012, is suing Wang over a housing contract dispute involving more than 30 million yuan (4.8 million U.S. dollars).

The trial opened a day after authorities in Jiangxi's city of Pingxiang, Wang's hometown, opened an investigation into Wang's alleged illegal medical practices.

China Central Television (CCTV) on Sunday broadcast an investigative report on Wang, describing him as a swindler who made his fortune by fooling celebrities and government officials.

Prior to the trial, Zou, chairman of the Pingxiang-based Jiangxi Tianyu Fuel Group, said he paid 5 million yuan in fees to become Wang's disciple in 2009, but Wang did not teach him ways to master qigong. "Most of the time he asked me to practice on my own."

Wang, on the other hand, said he never fooled people into giving him money.

"I'm not this kind of person, or I wouldn't have so many billionaires as my friends," Wang said in an interview with Xinhua.

He added that whether he has supernatural powers or not, he performs for fun just two or three times a year and does not make money from it.