Dispute resolution specialists Messrs. Thomas Philip Advocates & Solicitors (Messrs Thomas Philip), today accompanied 22 clients in filing police reports at the Ibu Pejabat Polis Daerah Kulai (Kulai Police HQ) in support of civil proceedings filed with the Johor Bahru High Court as part of their efforts to regain rightful legal ownership of lots of lands that they had lawfully purchased from Lim Han Poh and Lim Han Poh Realty Co. Ltd. (LHPR) in the 1960s.
With an estimated current market value of more than RM65 million, the 22 lots of land measuring nearly 160 acres comprise part of a 256-acre land in Kulai, Johor purchased by Singaporean Lim Han Poh, that later attained approval from the Commissioner of Land and Mines, Johor for subdivision in 1959. Following the demise of Lim Han Poh at Singapore’s General Hospital in 1964, the High Court of Singapore issued a Grant of Letters of Administration to his son Lim Heng How to oversee and manage his estate.
While all 22 clients had rightfully purchased their lots from Lim Han Poh, his authorised representatives or LHPR, in 2020 the Johor Bahru High Court was misled into issuing an Order of Probate on Lim Han Poh’s estate based on fraudulent representation by Mohd Fadzil bin Khamis. In his application, Mohd Fadzil had claimed to be the sole beneficiary of an Indonesian national purported to be the late Lim Han Poh who it was alleged had died in Yogyakarta in 2020.
Mathew Thomas Philip, the founder and Managing Partner of Messrs. Thomas Philip said, “Today our clients have filed police reports in support of their application to the Johor Bahru High Court to revoke the fraudulently obtained Grant of Probate. In support of the application, the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in Kuala Lumpur has confirmed that the purported passport details listed in the last will and testament of Indonesian national Lim Han Poh presented by Mohd Fadzil bin Khamis were in fact false,” he said.
“Once we have succeeded in rescinding the Grant of Probate, we are optimistic that the Johor Bahru High Court will support our clients’ applications to have their claims as co-proprietors of the land registered which will then facilitate the subdivision of the land and ensure that each individual owner obtains separate title for their land,” he added.
Speaking to the media after filing his police report, the beneficial owner and representative for the 22 claimants, Yeoh Joey Keng said, “Many of us have spent the past 50 years nurturing the land and have been working tirelessly with the relevant authorities and waiting patiently for titles, for what is rightfully our land. It was shocking and unbelievable to all of us that the process could be nearly stopped by blatant fraud. We hope justice will prevail and that we will receive our rightful land titles soon,” he said.
With a track record of fighting for just causes, Messrs. Thomas Philip’s lawyers confirmed that they would leave no stone unturned to fight for what rightfully belongs to their clients and their respective families.
