KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 24 — A high-stakes legal battle over the RM1.6 billion estate of the late Lim Siew Kim, daughter of Genting founder Tan Sri Lim Goh Tong, began in the High Court yesterday with her daughters alleging that her final will was executed under fraudulent and “suspicious circumstances.”
The civil suit, filed by two of Siew Kim’s daughters, Chan T’shiao Li and Kimberley Chan T’shiao Min, seeks to nullify their mother’s last will, the New Straits Times reported.
They claim she lacked the legal and mental capacity to sign it due to her deteriorating condition from Stage 4 ovarian cancer. Siew Kim passed away in July 2022 at the age of 73.
The daughters’ claim highlights the existence of two other wills made shortly before the final one, which they argue constitutes a “suspicious circumstance.”
The final will, executed on April 28, 2022, just months before her death, dramatically changed the distribution of her assets.
Under this final will, the Dikim Foundation, a foundation set up by Siew Kim and her late husband, was named the major beneficiary, receiving over 70 per cent of the residuary estate.
Siew Kim’s son, Marcus Chan, was also a significant beneficiary, receiving properties, shareholdings, and 30 per cent of the residuary estate.
In contrast, T’shiao Li was left with RM900,000 and Kimberley received only RM100,000.
The trial got off to a dramatic start yesterday when the lawyer who drafted the will, Datuk Low Beng Choo, took the stand.
Low, who is also a defendant in the suit, testified that Siew Kim was “alert and aware” when she signed the will page by page from her hospital bed.
However, senior lawyer Datuk V. Sithambaram, representing the plaintiffs, immediately rose to object, seeking to expunge parts of Low’s testimony as hearsay, since it involved words allegedly spoken by the deceased.
The plaintiffs have also alleged that Low had an interest in the deceased’s estate through her connection to the Dikim Foundation, a claim which Low has denied.
High Court judge Mahazan Mat Taib has fixed March 2 to rule on the objection.
Malay Mail – Malaysia
