KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 13): The High Court today partially allowed an application by Tan Sri Jamaluddin Jarjis’ 86-year-old mother for a declaration that she is entitled to be a beneficiary to the former Minister’s estate and has an interest in companies worth over RM1 billion owned by his children.

The three companies which she is claiming a portion of are Rantai Wawasan Sdn Bhd, Alpine Motion Sdn Bhd and Ivory Insights Sdn Bhd.

Justice Datuk Seri Mohd Firuz Jaffril, in his 26-page decision which he announced via videoconferencing, however only allowed a claim by the plaintiff, Aminah Abdullah, on Rantai Wawasan as part of her deceased son's estate.

"The plaintiff's (Aminah's) prayer for a declaration that the shares of Alpine Motion and Ivory Insights are part of the estate of the late Tan Sri Jamaluddin Jarjis is dismissed," the judge said.

Justice Firuz also ordered the two grandchildren — Nur Anis Jamaluddin and Ikhwan Hafiz Jamaluddin — to pay costs of RM80,000 to their grandmother.

Rantai Wawasan is the holding company which owns among others NUR Power, an independent power utility in Kulim, Kedah which was acquired in 2012.

Nur Anis is a director at the power plant, while her brother Ikhwan Hafiz is both director and managing director.

Justice Firuz laid out the guidelines issued by the National Fatwa Council on the principles involved in Islamic inheritance law, namely that if a man dies and leaves behind children and parents, then they, in addition to his wife, are also entitled to inherit his estate.

The judge said the trust deed of 2009 has made Jamaludin the legal, beneficial and ultimate owner of the Rantai Wawasan shares.

“The existence of the trust deed shows the existence of an express trust. That being the position, the plaintiff (Aminah) herein has successfully proven her claim on Rantai Wawasan shares.”

This is despite the existence of a second trust deed created in 2015, which Justice Firuz considered to be null and void as the shares belong to the estate.

“Once the owner of the shares dies, the shares must go to the estate. In the absence of a will, DW-7 (the attorney appointed by the family who is a witness) cannot carry on the wishes of the deceased especially without the consent of all the beneficiaries to the estate which includes the plaintiff.

“Regardless of which version is correct, being the plaintiff's or the defendants', it does not matter to me. I opine the 2009 Trust Deed made the deceased the legal, beneficial and ultimate owner of the Rantai Wawasan shares,” the judge said.

As for the other two companies, namely Alpine Motion and Ivory Insights, Justice Firuz said based on testimonies by three defence witnesses, the court was prepared to accept that the shares of both companies were purchased for the benefit of the two Jamaludin's children.

“In 2011-2012, they were indeed involved in the operations and management of the two companies under the guidance of their late father,” he ruled.

Aminah, who is illiterate, had filed the suit in early 2019 against Nur Anis and Ikhwan Hafiz, where she sought the court declaration.

Rantai Wawasan is listed as a management consultant company formed in 1982.

She claimed she has an interest in the shares of Rantai Wawasan, Alpine Motion and Ivory Insights, which were given to Nur Anis and Ikhwan Hafiz.

The octogenarian claimed:
• three million Rantai Wawasan shares worth RM1.044 billion (audited as at end-2017),
• six million Alpine Motion shares worth RM233 million, and
• two Ivory Insights shares worth RM80 million.

She claimed one-sixth of the value of the shares (RM1.3 billion) from the estate, according to the Islamic faraid system of estate management.

Aminah was represented by senior lawyers Pawancheek Merican and Kamar Ainiah Kamaruzaman, while counsel S Suhendran and Frank Wong appeared for Nur Anis and Ikhwan Hafiz.

Aminah has also filed a faraid application which is pending at the Syariah Court.

Jamaluddin had served as the second Finance Minister; Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation; and Malaysia's ambassador to the United States.

Known to be a close confidant of former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, Jamaluddin was killed in a helicopter crash along with Najib's principal private secretary Datuk Azlin Alias in April 2015.

Besides this case, Aminah has also filed another suit against Nur Anis and Ikhwan Hafiz, along with Messrs Wong Lu Peen & Tunku Alina, ex-lawyer Liza Chan Sow Keng (now a judicial commissioner) and Commissioner for Oaths Tengku Fariddudin Tengku Sulaiman.

She is accusing the defendants of committing purported fraud, fabrication, fraudulent concealment, misconduct and/or breaches of law in depriving her right as beneficiary, to a fair and proper administration of inheritance to her late son's estate.