THE feud at the Lim family, which controls the multibillion-ringgit Genting gaming empire, seems to have escalated with Lim Siew Kim filing a suit against her brother, Tan Sri Lim Kok Thay, and Kien Huat Realty Sdn Bhd (the holding company of flagship Genting Bhd).

In the statement of claim viewed by The Edge, Siew Kim alleges that she is the beneficial owner of 796,250 shares in Genting Bhd, and Kien Huat Realty is holding the shares in trust for her.

Court documents indicate that she is seeking a declaration that Kien Huat Realty is holding the shares in trust for her, and that she is entitled to the benefits arising from the shares, including dividends, rights issues and bonus shares. She is also seeking to have the shares transferred to her within 14 days, failing which Kien Huat Realty and Kok Thay shall be liable to pay her RM2.06 billion or such value assessed by the court.

Back-of-the-envelope calculations show that the 796,250 shares represent only 0.02% of Genting’s 3.72 billion share base and have a market value of RM7.71 million. However, considering Genting’s dividend payments and corporate exercises such as bonus issues and share splits over the years, there could be a lot more at stake.

The feud between Siew Kim and Kok Thay comes on the back of another dispute. The latter is between the children of the late Datuk Lim Tee Keong (Kok Thay’s elder brother) — Joey Lim Keong Yew, Benjamin Lim Keong Hoe and Marie Lim Seok Leng — and Kok Thay and his younger brother, Datuk Lim Chee Wah.

The children of Tee Keong, the eldest son of the late Tan Sri Lim Goh Tong, are contesting their father’s will. Tee Keong was a bankrupt when he passed away on April 14, 2014.

Specifically, the children are questioning the removal of Keong Hoe and Seok Leng as beneficiaries of the “Tee Keong Family Trust”, a discretionary trust set up by patriarch Goh Tong in 1990 for his eldest son and his family.

Goh Tong had six children — three daughters, followed by three sons. They are (from the eldest to the youngest) Lim Siew Lay, Lim Siew Lian, Siew Kim, Tee Keong, Kok Thay and Chee Wah.

The feud between Siew Kim and Kok Thay has its roots back in the late 1960s and early 1970s when Genting was still a fledgling company.

What allegedly happened

In the court documents, Siew Kim says that when she was in her early twenties, she returned from London and started officially working at Genting (then known as Genting Highlands Hotel Sdn Bhd). She was with the company from 1969 to 1973, and was deputy to her father, the managing director.

In 1974, she left for London to further her studies but at the behest of her father, she was involved in negotiations that led to the attempted takeover of Harrisons & Crosfield. She was involved in numerous negotiations and meetings with financial institutions, advisers and broking houses.

Shortly after, she returned to Malaysia as her parents objected to her studying. She married Dick Chan Teik Huat of Kassim Chan (now Deloitte) fame. Kassim Chan were also the auditors of Genting.

Siew Kim says at end-August 1977, Goh Tong — on account of her help and work, which had not been remunerated — had given her 796,250 shares in Genting. However, on Aug 7, 1978, Goh Tong indicated during a meeting with Siew Kim that he wanted the shares back and would pay RM3.2 million for them.

Then, at a birthday party in May 1979, when a photostat of the share sale agreement (SSA) was given to her, Siew Kim realised that the SSA she had signed on Aug 7, 1978, was different from the one she had received.

“The agreement stated that I had received certain considerations that I had not in fact received. In fact, I had not received any of the purchase price. Further, the agreement referred to a transfer of shares from myself to Kien Huat Realty which I was unaware of as I did not sign any transfer form for the transfer of the said 796,250 shares to Kien Huat Realty,” court documents read.

It seems that when informed about the discrepancies, Goh Tong had told Siew Kim in Hokkien, “Never mind, as the shares are yours, they will remain yours. I will keep them properly for you.”

In her statement of claim, Siew Kim states that subsequent to the SSA, Goh Tong told her (orally) that the shares would be held by Kien Huat Realty for her in trust, and that the SSA would no longer be valid.

It seems that Kok Thay had indicated on several occasions that he was aware of the trust, court documents state.

Goh Tong, founder and patriarch of the Genting group, passed away on Oct 23, 2007.

Siew Kim says she had thought that the ultimate shareholder of Kien Huat Realty was her family members and that her interests (trust shares) were being looked after, but by 2016, she was unsure if her interests were still safe.

Fight with Kok Thay

On Jan 29 last year, a suit was filed at the Kuala Lumpur High Court by Kok Thay. It is known as the KT Lim Action and was launched against Siew Kim for the recovery of certain monies amounting to RM36 million purportedly owed to him.

During this trial, Kok Thay indicated that Kien Huat Realty was controlled by him and his immediate family, meaning he and his children are the ultimate shareholders.

Siew Kim says she thus realised that Kok Thay was not going to acknowledge the existence of the trust shares.

According to a letter dated Sept 15 last year, Siew Kim’s lawyers sought the transfer of the trust shares from Kien Huat Realty to the plaintiff (Siew Kim), and for her to receive all the benefits accruing thereon.

On Sept 21, Kien Huat Realty’s lawyers responded by denying the request and rejecting the demands made.

The defendants also stated that Siew Kim’s claim was barred by the statute of limitations, which is six years. However, Siew Kim states that as she is seeking to recover trust property, it is not time barred.

The defence says

The defendants — Kien Huat Realty and Kok Thay — say that Kien Huat Realty “holds substantial shares in Genting but does not hold any of these shares on trust for the plaintiff”.

They add that on Aug 9, 1975, the plaintiff (Siew Kim) had agreed to sell the shares to Kien Huat Realty for RM2.13 million, and the transfer took place on the same day.

According to the court documents, the defendants say that on March 26, 1979, the plaintiff had entered into an SSA and amended the price from RM2.13 million to RM3.20 million, which was fully paid by Kien Huat Realty on or around April 16, 1979.

They add that the company “has never agreed to hold, and has never held, the sales on trusts for the plaintiff”.

Several other matters were brought up by the defence involving the statute of limitations.

Both Kok Thay and Siew Kim are known corporate personalities in Malaysia. Kok Thay is chairman and chief executive of Genting, which has a market capitalisation of RM36.3 billion.

Genting controls several choice assets in Singapore, Hong Kong, Europe and the US. Some of the listed companies that it controls are Genting Malaysia Bhd and Genting Plantations Bhd, both of which are listed in Kuala Lumpur, and Genting Singapore PLC, which is publicly traded in the island republic.

Siew Kim is known to have a substantial stake — some reports say as much as 40% — in Apex Equity Holdings Bhd, and was linked to Metroplex Bhd and Aktif Lifestyle Corp Bhd, to name but a few companies.

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