Battle for the late Lim Siew Kim RM1.6b estate: Court dismisses application to strike out parts of will-preparing lawyer’s testimony

KUALA LUMPUR (March 3): The High Court has rejected an attempt by two of the late Genting Group heiress Lim Siew Kim’s children to strike out parts of will-preparing lawyer Datuk Low Beng Choo’s witness statement and documents in their RM1.6 billion will dispute.

Judge Mahazan Mat Taib ruled that Low’s witness statement — which the two children claim is inadmissible hearsay evidence — is not considered “hearsay in law”.

“Applying section 60 of the Evidence Act 1950 and the governing principles on hearsay, I find that the bulk of the impugned evidence does not constitute hearsay in law,” she said.

To another point on whether the testimony regarding the conversation with the deceased (Siew Kim) constituted inadmissible hearsay, Mahazan ruled that it constituted evidence of a witness who says he/she heard it.

“Where Low testified as to what the deceased told her, she is giving evidence of a fact which she personally heard,” said Mahazan.

She further explained that such testimony “satisfies subsection 60(1) in paragraphs (b) and constitutes direct evidence” of the same evidence act, which requires that any fact that could be heard must be testified to by a witness who personally heard it.

Mahazan said that the sisters can challenge the credibility, reliability and probative value of the Low’s evidence, who is the fourth defendant in the case.

“However, a blanket exclusion at this stage would prematurely curtail material evidence central to the issues before the court,” Mahazan said.

Yesterday, the two sisters’ lawyer, Datuk V Sithambaram, applied to expunge at least eight portions of the written statement of Low, who not only prepared the disputed will but was also present during its execution.

The will in question belongs to the late Siew Kim, the third child of the deceased gaming mogul founder Tan Sri Lim Goh Tong. Siew Kim’s two daughters, Chan T’shiao Li and Kimberly Chan T’shiao Miin, filed this probate suit on Jan 19, 2023, challenging the validity of the will and questioning whether their mother possessed the requisite testamentary capacity at the time it was executed.

The contested will was allegedly signed while Siew Kim was warded in a private hospital. The estate is estimated to be worth RM1.6 billion.

As a result, the court dismissed the two of the late Lim Siew Kim’s children’s application to expunge portions of Enclosure 186 and 479. The judge awarded RM20,000 in costs to be shared among the four defendants.

Today’s proceeding was conducted by counsel Sithambaram, representing Lim Siew Kim’s daughters, T’shiao Li, 48, and T’shiao Miin, 45.

Counsel Rishwant Singh appeared for Malcolm Fernandez as executor and trustee; counsel Ong Kheng Leong represented another executor and trustee, Chan Mei Yee; counsel Goik Kenwayne and Foong Kar Yee represented Siew Kim’s son, Marcus Chan Jau Chwen; and counsel S Sivaneindran appeared for Low.

In her ruling, Mahazan said that the decision to allow the disputed portions as evidence does not amount to any acceptance of truth and the credibility of evidence will only be determined at the end of the trial.

“The court’s refusal to exclude the evidence does not amount to any acceptance of its truth, nor does it constitute any finding on the merits; all issues relating to credibility, reliability and probative value remain open for determination at the conclusion of the trial,” Mahazan said.

Among the portions of Low’s witness statement that Sithambaram sought to expunge were those relating to how certain markings in a 2021 will came about, allegedly on Siew Kim’s instructions that she wished to reduce the cash bequests to each of her two daughters.

The bequests were purportedly reduced from RM10 million to RM900,000 for T’shiao Li and from RM10 million to RM100,000 for T’shiao Miin.

On Feb 23, Low, when giving testimony, confirmed that Siew Kim had signed her final will on April 28, 2022.

Siew Kim, the third child of Lim Goh Tong, passed away from cancer in July 2022 at the age of 73, leaving behind three daughters and a son.

In the suit, the plaintiffs seek a declaration that the last will purportedly executed by the deceased on April 24, 2022, and the first will and second will purportedly executed by the deceased on Nov 2, 2021, and April 11, 2022, are null and void.

The plaintiffs also seek a declaration that their mother had died intestate, or without leaving a valid will.

This probate trial is also linked to a separate proceeding in which Jau Chwen is seeking to replace the current court-appointed officers managing the estate. He has nominated Victor Saw Seng Kee and Surendran Sathya Seelan of PricewaterhouseCoopers Advisory Services Sdn Bhd, or alternatively Lok Peng Chuan of KPMG Corporate Restructuring PLT, to assume the role.

Both matters are before Mahazan. The trial for the two sisters’ challenge is scheduled to continue on April 20.