Greedy Relatives Get Sued After Stealing Orphaned Niece's RM1.74 Million Inheritance
Each Hari Raya celebration, the relatives would only give the orphan a RM100 money packet.
By Jasmine Chea — 14 Feb 2023, 06:08 PM
When hard times get us down, our family would be the people we look to for support, right?
Unfortunately for this woman, it was her family that would be the cause of most of her heartache at a time when she needed them the most.
According to an anonymous confession posted to the local confession site, IIUM Confessions, the woman related her experience of losing her parents to a work-related accident when she was just 11 years old, causing her life to be turned upside down in a matter of days.
Just one day after her parents were laid to rest, the woman revealed that her aunt and uncle took it upon themselves to send her to live in her hometown in Kelantan with her grandmother and another aunt.
"I was so blur after losing my father and mother in one go. I was suddenly forced to move to a different state and transfer schools. I told my aunt and uncle that I wanted to stay where I used to with my late parents but I got scolded by them and was ordered to move from Johor to Kelantan. But I worried about my family home" the anonymous woman wrote.
She revealed that during her first year in Kelantan, her aunt and uncle did not visit her at all
It was only in the second year during Hari Raya celebrations that the aunt and uncle made the trip from Johor to come and visit her.
Her living expenses were also completely supplemented by her grandmother and another aunt, who ran a small food business every morning.
The orphan said that her resentment towards her aunt and uncle grew because she saw them beginning to lead a more opulent lifestyle, while she had to rely on donations from others and only got new clothes for Hari Raya.
She also said that despite her relatives living a lavish lifestyle, they would only give her RM100 every year and RM200 to RM300 every month to the grandmother and aunt.
Things came to a head when she completed her Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examinations and her relatives asked her to continue her studies in her hometown
However, she pretended to apply for universities in Kelantan and Terengganu, when in actuality, she applied to study in Johor to visit the home where she and her late parents used to stay.
Much to her shock, she discovered that her family home had been sold and another family had taken residence there.
Evidently displeased with what her aunt and uncle had done, the orphan sought the help of a lawyer despite being short in savings and studying while only working part-time.
Lucky for her, after hearing her story, the lawyer said that he would help her with the case and that they could settle the payment later.
Thus, began the long process of gathering evidence that the orphan's aunt and uncle may have misappropriated the funds and property her late parents left behind
After investigating for two long years, the lawyer discovered that the woman's family home was built on private-owned land and had been sold by her aunt and uncle for RM820,000 seven years ago.
She also discovered that her late mother used to rent out two housing units, which initially went for RM400 per month. Unbeknownst to her, her late mother had increased the rent from RM400 to RM650 a month before she passed and her relatives have been collecting the rent ever since.
The orphan also found out that because her late parents died in a work-related accident, she should have been awarded RM720,000 compensation from the company when she reached the legal age.
The woman opened a case and brought her relatives to court so she could get back the funds she was owed
It took five long years, but the court ruled in her favour and ordered the aunt and uncle to return everything that was rightfully hers.
This included cars that her late parents had already paid off before they passed, compensation including insurance amounting to RM720,000 with an additional RM50,000, rental fees amounting to RM150,000, and the full amount that the family home was sold for.
The total amount was to be paid in full to the woman in five months by the aunt and uncle.
"My aunt and uncle begged and pleaded with me [to drop the charges] but I didn't care. Because the money they were enjoying all this time was actually mine," she wrote.
In the end, the relatives had to sell everything in their name in order to pay their niece the money she was owed. Even after selling everything, they have only paid her 80% of the full amount.
They finally had to declare bankruptcy and were later sent to jail for unclear reasons.
The woman, who is now 28 years old, said that she used 10% of the money she received to pay the lawyer, who, she said, if it wasn't for him, she wouldn't have gotten her property back
She said that she received backlash from her aunt and uncle's children, accusing her of being ungrateful and said that she would have been desolate if it weren't for their parents..
However, she reminded them that before using her money, they were living in a rented squatter house. Only with her money did they get to live lavishly in a double-storey terrace house.
According to the woman, she continues to be bombarded with texts, calls, and Facebook messages harassing her but she is currently living a good life.
The woman revealed that she is now married and has moved to Selangor with her grandmother and aunt.
