Widow of ex-minister Jamaluddin in bid to amend RM1 billion matrimonial asset suit

Kalsom Ismail, the widow of Jamaluddin Jarjis, a former minister who was killed in a helicopter crash in 2015, has filed an application to amend her suit against her four children and mother-in-law over matrimonial property worth RM1 billion.

Syarie lawyer Sulaiman Abdullah, representing Kalsom as the plaintiff, said he would amend the statement of a claim involving several assets, including real estate.

“The plaintiff’s application to get the court’s permission to amend the suit will be heard on May 17,” he said when met by reporters after case mention before Shariah High Court registrar Hadi Hamat.

Meanwhile, syarie lawyer Nur Hidayah A Bakar, representing Jamaluddin’s mother, Aminah Abdullah, 88, who is the fifth defendant in the case, said the plaintiff had filed the application on March 25.

According to Nur Hidayah, the amendment will involve real estate in Boston, which will be removed from the statement of claim.

“Apart from that, shares in Rantai Wawasan Sdn Bhd, the issue of indirect contributions related to the care of Jamaluddin when he was suffering from leg pain and issues related to land in Selangor will be included in the amended statement of claim,” she said.

Kalsom, 66, filed a matrimonial property claim including 20 properties in Malaysia, the US, Mecca and several companies in October 2018, naming her children – Ikwan Hafiz, Nur Anis, Nurul Alyaa, Noor Adilla – and her mother-in-law Aminah as defendants.

On April 4, 2015, Jamaluddin, who was also the former Malaysian ambassador to the US, was killed after the helicopter he was travelling in from Pekan, Pahang, to Kuala Lumpur, crashed at Kampung Sungai Pening, Semenyih in Selangor.

His pilot Captain Clifford William Fournier, former prime minister Najib Razak’s private secretary Azlin Alias, businessman Tan Huat Seang, Jamaluddin’s personal aide Razakan Seran and a woman known as Aidana Baizieva were also killed.