KUALA LUMPUR: AmBank (M) Bhd is taking steps to auction off a property in Bandar Kundang, Rawang, belonging to the late Kee Kok Thiam — a former aide to fugitive financier Low Taek Jho (Jho Low) — in a bid to recover an outstanding housing loan of RM1.018 million.
According to court documents, the bank filed the legal action in February and subsequently applied on April 18 to amend its statement of claim to include Kee’s estate. The matter is scheduled for case management on Tuesday before High Court senior assistant registrar Liew Yen Fern.
AmBank is seeking court approval to conduct the auction within a month of the order, with the property to be handed over vacant within 14 days post-sale. The bank has also requested to waive the usual 10% bidder’s deposit and is proposing a 120-day settlement period for the winning bid. Legal costs and a reserve price are also being sought.
In a supporting affidavit, AmBank manager Shamshaharul Abdul Khalid stated that Kee had mortgaged the property on September 30, 2013, to secure the RM1.018 million loan. By December 2023, Kee had defaulted on payments, owing RM26,091.58. The bank then issued a Form 16D foreclosure notice and claimed the full outstanding sum of RM873,245.89, with interest accruing at 2.5% under a 6.70% loan rate.
Kee passed away on May 29, 2023, from a stroke shortly after returning from Macau. Prior to his death, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) had confirmed that a person linked to the 1MDB scandal had returned to Malaysia — later identified as Kee. He was believed to have been involved in illicit fund transfers related to both 1MDB and SRC International Sdn Bhd, through a company called Wright Shaw Ltd.
Kee’s alleged links to cash deposits into former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s accounts had also surfaced in several 1MDB-related trials.
This case echoes similar proceedings involving Jasmine Loo Ai Swan, 1MDB’s former general counsel, whose properties and vehicles were subject to foreclosure by OCBC Bank in 2021. Loo returned to Malaysia in July 2023.
