KUALA LUMPUR: The son of late Genting heiress Lim Siew Kim has failed in his bid to remove two interim administrators overseeing her RM1.6 billion estate.
High Court judge Datuk Mahazan Mat Taib dismissed Marcus Chan’s application against lawyer Datuk S. Satharuban and Khoo Siew Kiat, with RM30,000 in costs payable to the administrators.
The court also discharged an interim injunction restraining the pair from acting for the estate, allowing them to resume their duties under its supervision.
Mahazan ruled that Marcus had not established misconduct, persistent breaches of duty, a disqualifying conflict of interest or other sufficiently serious circumstances warranting their removal.
“I find that Marcus has failed to establish sufficient grounds for the removal of the joint administrators pendente lite.
“However, the dismissal of the application does not amount to blanket approval of every expenditure or transaction undertaken by the administrators.
“Their obligations to account for estate assets, comply with the appointment order and submit their costs and remuneration for examination remain unaffected,” she said.
Marcus had sought the duo’s removal over allegations including unauthorised legal payments, improper dealings with estate assets, interference in companies linked to his mother and conflicts of interest.
On allegations of interference in companies linked to the estate, Mahazan said the administrators could not treat company liabilities as estate debts merely because Siew Kim held shares in those companies.
However, their duty to preserve the estate could require them to obtain information and take lawful steps to protect the value of its shareholdings.
She found insufficient evidence of unlawful corporate intervention or misuse of estate funds serious enough to justify their removal.
The judge also found that a potential conflict involving Khoo had been disclosed and addressed through an earlier court order appointing Satharuban to handle the relevant litigation on behalf of the estate.
On the strained relationship between Marcus and the administrators, Mahazan said hostility or a beneficiary’s loss of confidence did not, by itself, establish misconduct or partiality.
“The court must be careful not to allow the objective of appointing independent administrators to be defeated merely because one beneficiary has lost confidence in them,” she said.
Viewing the complaints collectively, she was not persuaded that replacing the administrators was necessary for the proper preservation or administration of the estate.
Mahazan also rejected the argument that the administrators lacked authority because they had not obtained a separate grant of letters of administration, ruling that their existing appointment order remained operative.
She stressed that the decision did not determine the validity of Siew Kim’s disputed will or the ultimate entitlement of any beneficiary.
Satharuban and Khoo were appointed on Nov 27, 2023, to preserve and administer the estate pending the outcome of the probate dispute.
Siew Kim, the third child of Genting founder Tan Sri Lim Goh Tong, died of cancer in July 2022 at the age of 73, leaving behind three daughters and Marcus, her only son.
Two of her daughters, Chan T’shiao Li and Kimberly Chan T’shiao Miin, filed a probate suit on Jan 19, 2023, challenging the validity of her will dated April 28, 2022.
Marcus, a 30 per cent beneficiary of the residuary estate, obtained an ad interim injunction on Jan 23 this year, restraining the administrators from acting pending disposal of his removal application.