RM1m suit over property deal
05/02/2008 New Straits Times By Rita Jong

SHAH ALAM: A husband and wife filed a RM1 million suit against a houseowner and the Insolvency Department for breach of contract and negligence.

Engineer Syed Mustapha Kamal Syed Kassim, 52, and his wife Norliza Thorlby Abdullah, a British national, named Busu @ Hamzah Ali, the department's director and the government as the first, second and third defendant, respectively.

The suit was filed at the Shah Alam High Court registry through Messrs Srimurugan & Co yesterday.

In their statement of claim, the plaintiffs said they saw an advertisement for a house for sale in Mukim Setapak in Gombak for RM250,000 in April 1996.

The property was registered under developer Melawati Development Sdn Bhd and Busu was the beneficiary owner. Syed Mustapha and Norliza claimed they agreed to purchase the house from Busu for RM250,000 and the sale and purchase agreement was drafted.

Subsequently, the plaintiffs learnt that Busu was declared a bankrupt by the Kuala Terengganu High Court on April 9, 1991. They immediately contacted their lawyer to stop the deal.

In December 1997, Busu contacted the plaintiffs and told them he was still interested in selling the house, with permission from the Insolvency Department which seized Busu's assets following his bankruptcy.

The Insolvency Department had also made an offer to sell the house to the plaintiffs. On Jan 5, 1998, the plaintiffs claimed they paid RM25,000 (10 per cent of the purchase price) to the Insolvency Department's Terengganu branch, as agreed.

They also claimed they paid RM14,000 to the developer on June 14, 2000, to transfer the property to their name.

Syed Mustapha and Norliza claimed that on March 14, 2006, they learnt that the developer had registered their property to Busu.

They said based on their contract with the department, Busu was just the "bare trustee" of the property.