KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 22 ― A UK court has criticised Malaysian tycoon Tan Sri Khoo Kay Peng’s estranged wife for demanding £135,000 (RM739,000) for holidays annually in their billion-ringgit divorce.
UK paper Daily Mail reported yesterday that Pauline Chai, a former beauty queen, has asked for a monthly “interim maintenance” allowance of £85,000 to cover her living expenses ― which amounts to RM5.6 million annually ― that includes the £135,000 annual sum for holidays.
"I am unable to accept the picture which she paints of a somewhat frugal existence,” Justice Roberts, judge in the Family Division of the London High Court, was quoted saying.
“I view the sums claimed as being in excess of what she is likely to spend while she is so deeply enmeshed in this ongoing litigation," she added.
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| Former beauty queen Pauline Chai (centre) has asked for a monthly 'interim maintenance' allowance of £85,000 (RM463,500) to cover her living expenses ― which amounts to RM5.6 million annually ― that includes the £135,000 annual sum for holidays. |
Roberts reportedly described the £85,000 monthly allowance asked by Chai as excessive and refused to grant her demand, deciding instead that Khoo, who is the non-executive chairman of international brand Laura Ashley, should pay his ex-wife £45,000 a month.
Chai, who was Miss Malaysia in 1969, had reportedly said the £85,000 monthly allowance was needed to cover her "needs", which included chauffeurs, first-class flights and five-star hotel suites for holidays.
Chai's lawyers had initially claimed that their client had suffered "reductions" after her divorce, claiming she had to sell her jewellery and even forego trips to her hairdresser in central London.
Her budget for her hair alone was £450 a month, the paper reported.
Roberts, however, said granting Chai £45,000 for monthly expenses was "fair" since the ex-beauty queen was already given an interim lump sum of £1.85 million.
The judge also noted that Chai had spent £950,000 on “living expenses and outgoings” alone between May 2013 and February 2014.
UK media reported last October Chai as telling the English courts that she has accumulated some 1,000 pairs of shoes in the 43 years she has been married to Khoo.
Khoo and Chai are locked in an acrimonious billion-ringgit divorce battle, with the latter fighting to have the trial heard in the UK where she stands to gain half of the magnate’s estimated £400 million fortune, possibly the largest divorce settlement in British history.
Khoo, however, is applying to have the case heard in Malaysia, arguing that they were married in Malaysia where he also maintains his official residence. Khoo would risk losing less of his wealth if the trial is held here.
The Kuala Lumpur High Court ruled last November that it has jurisdiction to hear the divorce, contradicting an English court's earlier ruling that England was the more appropriate forum for the dispute.
Source: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/ex-miss-malaysia-rapped-for-seeking-rm739000-holiday-fund-in-divorce-from-tThe Malay Mail Online - Malaysia
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