KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 13): Former business partner to the late Tan Sri Jamaludin Jarjis (pictured), Datuk Zakri Afandi Ismail, has filed three separate suits seeking the return of shares in three companies they established together.

The writ of summons and statement of claims dated last Tuesday (Jan 4) were earlier filed by Messrs Zul Rafique & Partners on behalf of Zakri Afandi — the plaintiff — at the High Court.

Zakri Afandi and the late Jamaludin had previously met at EPE Power Corporation Bhd.

In the first suit, Zakri Afandi, formerly vice-chairman at Utusan Melayu (M) Bhd, has named Jamaludin's only son, Ikhwan Hafiz, and Tirai Variasi Sdn Bhd as defendants.

Zakri Afandi claimed that the transfer of 10,000 shares of Tirai Variasi is null and void and declared that he is the rightful owner of the shares and should be reinstated as a director of the company

This follows the dispute involving 90,000 shares of the company following Jamaludin's death in 2015, with Ikhwan Hafiz acknowledging Zakri Afandi’s ownership of 10,000 shares.

For the second suit, Zakri Afandi named Ikhwan Hafiz and another company, Alpine Motion Sdn Bhd, as defendants.

Zakri Afani claimed that the transfer of 2.04 million shares of Alpine Motion is null and void, and declared that he is the rightful owner of the shares.

This comes after Zakri Afadi accused Ikhwan Hafiz of wrongful conduct over his wrongful removal as director, fraudulent transfer of shares as well as the loss and damage. Hence, he is also seeking his reinstatement as a director of Alpine Motion, as well as special damages for loss of salary, unpaid dividends from the shares of the company since January 2017.

As for the third suit, Zakri Afandi has named Ikhwan Hafiz, his sister Nur Anis and Ivory Insights Sdn Bhd as defendants. In this suit, the plaintiff claimed that the transfer of the unit trust in Ivory Insights to Ikhwan Hafiz and Nur Anis is invalid, null and void.

This follows Zakri Afandi’s claim that he was wrongfully removed from the post as director, and that the conduct of both Ikhwan Hafiz and Nur Anis were wrongful. He is also seeking explicit recognition of the trust deed.

He is also seeking special damages following his removal as director of Ivory Insights as well as dividends following his removal since January 2017. In all three suits he filed, he is also seeking exemplary and general damages.

Besides that, Zakri Afandi in supporting affidavits from his lawyer dated last Thursday has made an ex-parte application to transfer all the three proceedings filed in the civil courts to the commercial courts.

The proceedings for the transfer of the suits were held before Justice Datuk Rozana Ali Yusoff on Thursday.

These latest court developments are among the slew of cases involving Jamaludin’s family, his estate and various parties, following the former Rompin MP and federal minister’s passing in April 2015.

On Tuesday, the Syariah High Court had postponed the hearing involving joint matrimonial assets allegedly worth RM2 billion belonging to Jamaludin and his wife Puan Sri Kalsom Ismail.

This comes after Kalsom’s lawyers are said to have handed her witness statement and a bundle of documents allegedly containing the list of assets to the defendants — namely the couple’s children and Jamaludin’s mother Aminah Abdullah — only on Tuesday, the day of the hearing.

The court was initially supposed to hear Kalsom’s testimony that same day, but it had to be deferred due to the recent submission of the documents, which also need to be verified further by parties before proceedings may commence.

Amongst other assets that are part of the estate are houses in Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, and the United States. The estate also includes shares owned by the late minister and those purportedly given to her grandchildren.

In total, the assets comprise 22 landed properties, mostly in Pahang and the Klang Valley, 21 bank accounts with a total sum of more than RM15 million — including one account in the United States — and shares in 15 companies.

Prior to that, Aminah had sued the two grandchildren for a declaration that the companies mentioned in Zakri Afandi's suit — namely Alpine Motion and Ivory Insights — belonged to Jamaludin's estate.

The High Court only ruled on Aug 13 last year that the shares of Rantai Wawasan Sdn Bhd belong to Jamaludin's estate and not Alpine Motion or Ivory Insights. However, both the grandchildren had obtained a stay of the court order in September and the matter is pending appeal at the Court of Appeal.

Rantai Wawasan, which Jamaludin acquired in 2012, has among its assets an independent power utility NUR Power in Kulim, Kedah.

Read also:
KL Syariah Court postpones hearing for joint matrimonial assets of Jamaluddin Jarjis and wife
Court rules Jamaluddin Jarjis' mom is entitled to shares in company controlled by grandchildren
Court grants conditional stay on ruling that Rantai Wawasan shares belong to Jamaludin Jarjis' estate