Mr Patrick Tang, 66, is demanding that his mistress Karen Lee, 39, return properties worth HK$10 million (S$2 million), The Standard newspaper reported, citing a writ filed with the High Court. They met in 2002.

He claims in the writ that when Ms Lee became pregnant with his child in 2003, they made a verbal pact that he would buy her a property provided she did not get involved with another man.

'As widely reported...(Ms Lee) came to develop a sexual relationship with one Wong Cheung-fat,' the nine-page document alleges, adding that it constituted a breach of the conditions.

Newspapers said Mr Tang cut off Ms Lee's monthly allowance of HK$80,000 after she and the 23-year-old Mr Wong went public about their relationship at a joint press conference two months ago. Mr Tang was embarrassed and infuriated by the move, according to media reports.

He released tape recordings of his conversations with Ms Lee and said she had wanted to hide her affair from him but he had chanced upon her diary entries, reported the Apple Daily. The tycoon said he was not bitter about the split and asked Ms Lee to take good care of their daughter.

'She has already taken the wrong path,' he was quoted as saying by Hong Kong media.

' My daughter is the most pitiful. She has always been used to having a good life. I'm not sure if she will enjoy such good living conditions,' he said.

Mr Tang, who is married with five grandchildren, runs a successful shoe business and is a shareholder and director of Priway Investments. He is the former chairman of KTP Holdings and is known as the 'King of Shoes'.

His fortune is estimated at HK$2 billion, Chinese newspapers reported. He is said to have another mistress, a 38-year-old former property agent surnamed Lau.

Read the full story in today's edition of The Straits Times.