Auction of corporate figure's valuables halted as wife claims they belong to her

A civil forfeiture case against rubber industry figure Vinod Sekhar has taken a new twist, when his wife secured a temporary stay stopping valuables seized from their house from being auctioned to the public.

Supposedly to take place at the house in Bukit Tunku at 10am today, the auction has now been postponed until a further decision, after the court this morning granted the application of Vinod's wife, Winy Yeap Liew Heoh.

It is learnt that Yeap filed the stay application with the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court about 3.45pm yesterday, claiming that items seized by court bailiffs from the bungalow in Bukit Tunku, Kuala Lumpur, on Aug 7 were hers and not Vinod's.

Lawyer Tan Wee Jiun, who is representing an Irish national who sued Vinod and who was awarded US$108,000 (about RM449,000) by the court earlier this year, said judge Zuhrina Mohamed Noor granted a temporary stay on the auction after hearing the application in chambers this morning.

"Today the judge gave a temporary stay (on the auction). She also set Oct 21 to deliver her decision on the application," Tan told reporters when met at the court.

According to the lawyer, they were informed that Yeap is filing a separate application in the court to exert her claims on the seized valuables.

It was reported that Slattery had sued Vinod to claim the US$108,000, which Slattery had paid to Vinod in 2017 as an investment in Green Rubber Sdn Bhd, a company of which Vinod was chairperson and founder.

The court had made a judgment in default, awarding the amount to Slattery on June 11 following Vinod's failure to appear before the court.

Slattery's lawyers then secured a writ of seizure from the court after Vinod failed to respond to the court judgment, which led to the Aug 7 seizure.

Among the items that were scheduled to be put on public auction this morning were fixtures and air-conditioning units from the house at Jalan Nusa, electronic equipment including Macbooks, a home theatre set, a pool table, bar stools, washing machines and ovens.

When they conducted the seizures, court bailiffs had estimated the items they found at Vinod's house to have a total worth of about RM150,000. - Mkini