Lawyer denies involvement in alleged ‘suspicious circumstances’ in $410M inheritance within late Malaysian billionaire Lim Goh Tong’s family

Low Beng Choo, the lawyer in question and a defendant in the case, also maintained that the content of the will faithfully reflects the final wishes of the tycoon’s late daughter, Lim Siew Kim, as the trial over her estate resumed on Monday, The Edge Malaysia reported.

The “suspicious circumstances” surrounding the preparation and making of the final will, as alleged by two of Siew Kim’s daughters who filed the lawsuit, refer to the existence of three wills drawn up within a short period that set out drastically different distributions of her estate, according to the New Straits Times.

In a witness statement submitted to the court, Low said her involvement in all three wills was carried out based on “the very instructions” of the deceased.

“The contents of the last will may not be satisfactory to them (…) but I can confirm (…) that the contents of the last will faithfully reflect the last wishes of the deceased,” she said in the document, as quoted by The Edge.

Under the final will, dated April 28, 2022, the plaintiffs received only a small share of their mother’s estate while their two other siblings received much more. Additionally, over 70% of Siew Kim’s residuary estate went to Dikim Foundation, a charity established by her and her late husband, where Low has been appointed a trustee.

When questioned about her status as a beneficiary of Siew Kim’s will during the Monday trial, Low claimed that the law only prohibits a beneficiary or their spouse from acting as a witness to the signing of a will, not from drafting it.

She added that she only took on her role as a trustee of the foundation on June 2, 2022, following Siew Kim’s “repeated requests.”

Proceedings were then adjourned as the plaintiffs’ lawyer was unwell. The hearing was postponed again on Tuesday as the same lawyer was diagnosed with an ear infection and granted medical leave.

The case so far

Siew Kim was the youngest daughter of Goh Tong, the late founder of the Genting business empire and Malaysia’s third richest man at the time of his death in October 2007, according to Forbes.

She passed away in July 2022 due to cancer and was survived by three daughters and a son. Her final will gave Chan T’Shiao Li and Kimberly Chan T’Shiao Miin, the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, RM900,000 and RM100,000, respectively, out of her RM1.6 billion estate.

Their two other siblings, meanwhile, were given properties, the contents of safe deposit boxes and shares in companies.

In 2023, the plaintiffs discovered two earlier wills dated Nov. 2, 2021, and April 11, 2022. Certain markings in the 2021 will were made, allegedly on Siew Kim’s instructions, to reduce their cash bequests from RM10 million each.

As a result, they have challenged their mother’s capacity to execute the will and questioned why she was made to hastily sign her final will, given her deteriorated mental and physical condition at the time.

They are seeking a declaration that all three wills are invalid and that their mother died intestate, or without leaving a valid will, according to Named.

Other defendants in the lawsuit include their brother, Marcus Chan Jau Chwen, and the estate’s executors, Malcolm Fernandez and Chan Mei Yee.

The trial began in late February. The plaintiffs had earlier sought to expunge part of Low’s testimony, claiming it constituted ‘hearsay’ as it involved statements from the deceased. The court dismissed the application in early March.