Divorce saga drags on for tycoon and ex-Miss Malaysia

The decision whether a Malaysian or English court is to hear a divorce petition between a former beauty queeen and her estranged tycoon husband will be delayed further following a Court of Appeal ruling today which ordered a new High Court judge to rehear the issues of jurisdiction and domicile.

"There are too many dispute of facts which should be heard and decided after a trial," Judge Datuk David Wong Dak Wah said in delivering the ruling of the court.

Also on the bench were Datuk Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof and Datuk Mah Weng Kwai.

Wong, however, noted that the husband, Tan Sri Khoo Kay Peng (pic), remained a Malaysian citizen and stayed in Ampang.

"The bulk of his property is in Malaysia although he has business interests outside the country," he said.

Last month a British judge was reported as saying that the expensive lengthy divorce battle between Khoo and Pauline Chai Siew Phin had gone "out of control" and was clogging up the courts there.

The judge said foreign divorce cases like this one being contested in England denied people in need of "precious court time" for more serious legal matters.

In December, the High Court in Kuala Lumpur refused Chai a stay order which allowed Khoo to do away with meeting a conciliatory body in London to save the couple's marriage.

Judge Noraini Abdul Rahman had also stated that Khoo could file his divorce petition in Malaysia which he did within 90 minutes of her ruling.

Noraini held that a Malaysian court could hear the divorce petition since Chai's domicile followed that of her husband, who owns 40% of international brand Laura Ashley.

As a result Chai filed an appeal to the court of appeal to determine the jurisdiction and domicile issues.

Chai is fighting a tooth and nail battle to prevent the Malaysian court from determining the couple's divorce as she stood to get less in matrimonial properties and other benefits if the matter was decided according to the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act 1976 in Malaysia.

Khoo stands to lose half his fortune amounting to £500 million (RM2.75 billion) in the pending divorce if the matter was decided in Chai's favour in the English courts.

Court documents sighted by The Malaysian Insider revealed that the couple have a matrimonial home in Ukay Heights, Ampang.

Court papers filed by lawyers for Khoo also revealed that in October 2012, during one of their trips, Chai, feigning an illness, decided to remain in England in order to file the divorce petition there.

The document stated she remained there on a tourist visa.

British tabloid Daily Mail last year reported that Chai filed a divorce petition in London on grounds of "unreasonable behaviour" against Malaysia's 36th wealthiest man, according to the Forbes 2013 list of Malaysia's richest.

"English law works on the basis of a 50-50 split of assets unless there is a reason to depart from that principle,” Chai's lawyer Ayesha Vardag was quoted telling The Times newspaper in the UK.

"We have wealth here that was built up over 40 years and a wife's entitlement would be half of that. Any question of need is secondary," the lawyer reportedly said.

Khoo is the chairman of international investment holding company Malayan United Industries that is primarily engaged in retailing, hotels, food and confectionery, financial services and properties.

Besides a 40% stake in Laura Ashley that has annual sales of £286 million, the 75-year-old multimillionaire is also a director of Corus Hotels Limited in the UK. Corus Hotel Hyde Park in London is a four-star Victorian hotel.

Lawyers reportedly said that Chai, 67, could be awarded between £400 million and £500 million, according to Daily Mail.

Vardag also reportedly said that Chai was entitled to seek justice in the UK as the former beauty queen was living in England.

Chai lives in the couple's former family home on a 404ha estate in Hertfordshire north of Greater London.

Chai and Khoo, who married in 1970 and have five grown-up children, bought the estate in 1998. The property reportedly has two custom-built lakes costing £60,000 each and a menagerie.

Besides winning the Miss Malaysia/International 1969 title, Chai has won other beauty pageants, including Miss Princess Malaysia 1969 and Miss Tourism Penang 1969.

Another big-money divorce case that has brought the spotlight on the wealth of Malaysia's rich is the RM400 million divorce case of Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud's son, Datuk Seri Mahmud Abu Bekir Abdul Taib. – April 22, 2014.