Court dismisses appeal by JJ’s children over RM1bil shares

 

Aminah Abdullah had won a court declaration that the shares were part of Jamaluddin Jarjis’ estate, to which she was entitled to as a beneficiary.

PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal today dismissed an appeal brought by the late former minister Jamaluddin Jarjis’ two children over shares worth more than RM1 billion in three companies.

Judge Nazlan Ghazali, who read the broad grounds, said the three-member bench found that High Court judge Firuz Jaffril was correct to dismiss their suit last year.

Azizah Nawawi, who chaired the bench, then ordered both parties to bear their own costs.

The third member of the bench was P Ravinthran.

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In August last year, Firuz had granted a declaration to Jamaluddin’s mother, Aminah Abdullah, that the three million shares worth RM1.044 billion in Rantai Wawasan Sdn Bhd were part of her son’s estate, to which she was entitled to as a beneficiary.

This led to the appeal filed by Jamaluddin’s children, Nur Anis and Ikhwan Hafiz.

Jamaluddin, better known as JJ, was a businessman before he served as a minister in Putrajaya between 2002 and 2008. He was killed when the helicopter he was travelling in from Pekan, Pahang, to Kuala Lumpur crashed at Kampung Sungai Pening in Semenyih, Selangor, on April 4, 2015.

Nazlan said a trust deed created in 2009 when Jamaluddin was alive was valid and the Rantai Wawasan shares should be reverted to his estate.

He also declared a 2015 trust created by the children as null and void.

“We, therefore, affirm the decision of the High Court and dismiss the defendants’ appeal,” he said.

The appellate court also dismissed Aminah’s appeal that shares worth RM313 million in Alpine Motion Sdn Bhd and Ivory Insights Sdn Bhd should revert to her son’s estate.

Nazlan said Aminah did not lead sufficient evidence to prove her claim and there was also no basis for the contention that a constructive trust existed.

“As such, we also affirm the decision of the High Court which had refused a declaration sought by Aminah that the shares in both companies are part of the estate of Jamaluddin,” he said.

Counsels Wan Zafran Pawancheek and Pawancheek Marican represented Aminah, while Saheran Suhendran, Frank Wong and Rodney Gan appeared for Nur Anis and Ikhwan Hafiz.

Aminah is also embroiled in a civil suit in the Kuala Lumpur Shariah High Court over her share of RM1 billion from her daughter-in-law, Kalsom Ismail.

Kalsom, a former dentist, filed the suit in early 2018 to obtain 50% of Jamaluddin’s moveable and immovable properties acquired here and overseas valued at RM2.1 billion from the deceased’s estate.

However, Aminah is opposing the suit, claiming that most of the assets were accumulated before her son married Kalsom.

Mediation over the assets left by Jamaluddin, who also served as Malaysian ambassador to the US, failed in 2019.

Jamaluddin was an Umno Supreme Council member and Rompin MP from 1990 until his death. - FMT