This is an update: Updated: Tuesday August 6, 2013 MYT 2:13:20 PM
I was a prisoner in my own home, says former beauty queen
PETALING JAYA: Former beauty queen Pauline Chai (pic) has claimed that billionaire husband Tan Sri Khoo Kay Peng made her feel “like a prisoner” on their sprawling 404ha English country estate.
Speaking publicly for the first time since filing a high-profile divorce petition against Khoo in February, the 66-year-old Chai alleged that she could not leave their home without Khoo’s permission.
She said his staff had also informed her in an e-mail that she could only spend £50 (RM248.38) weekly on food.
“It said fruits were allowed and vegetables were allowed but I was not allowed to eat certain things that I wanted. My daughter said to me that I was being treated like a servant. I think she nailed it,” she said in a report by British tabloid Daily Mail.
Chai, who was the Miss Malaysia/International 1969, expressed her happiness after filing for divorce, saying that she felt “controlled and isolated” during her marriage.
“During our marriage, he was very controlling but now I feel different. I feel very free,” she said.
She added that she had not spoken to her estranged husband in 12 months and they had lived in separate mansions on their £30mil (RM149mil) estate at Rosway Park, near Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire.
The tabloid also said Khoo and Chai had their own team of Gurkha guards to protect their section of the estate, with Khoo living in a five-bedroom manor house and Chai in the main 15-bedroom house.
Currently, Khoo, 74 – who is on Forbes’ list as one of Malaysia’s 50 richest men – and Chai are embroiled in what could be the largest divorce settlement in British history.
Chai could be awarded up to £500mil (RM2.375bil) by the London High Court, half of Khoo’s estimated worth, as English law works on the basis of 50-50 split of assets.
She had stated “unreasonable behaviour” as grounds for the divorce.
Khoo owns 40% of the international Laura Ashley brand, and is the chairman and group chief executive of the Malayan United Industries Group of Companies as well as director of Corus Hotels Limited in Britain.
They married in 1970 and have five grown-up children.
The tabloid also reported that Khoo wanted the case to be heard in Malaysia, where Chai will be entitled to much less than the amount she could be awarded in Britain.
However, Chai argued that she has not been a Malaysian citizen for 30 years, saying that she loves England and “everything English”.
“I have been living here for years. I want English justice because it is fair. That is all I am asking for,” she said.
The former glamour couple will be represented by Britain’s top divorce lawyers, Ayesha Vardag for Chai, and Fiona Shackleton for Khoo. Shackleton recently represented British chef Nigella Lawson for her divorce from advertising mogul Charles Saatchi and Prince Charles during his divorce from the late Diana, Princess of Wales.
Preliminary hearings for the case are expected to take place over the next few months.
Pauline Chai in a file photo when she won the title of Miss Malaysia. Pic: thetimes.co.uk
Former Miss Malaysia could get £500m payout in Britain's biggest ever divorce settlement from multimillionaire husband
- Pauline Chai, now 66, is divorcing Malaysian businessman Khoo Kay Peng
- Chairman of Malaysian United Industries has properties around the world
- The 74-year-old also owns a 40 per cent stake in Laura Ashley
- Divorce petition filed last month on grounds of 'unreasonable behaviour'
PETALING JAYA: One time glamour couple of Malaysia, multi-millionaire Tan Sri Dr Khoo Kay Peng and former Miss Malaysia Pauline Chai has split. They had married in 1970.
Chai, 66, lodged a petition for divorce in London last month on grounds of “unreasonable behaviour”, after 43 years of marriage with Khoo, listed as number 36 on Forbes' Malaysia's 50 Richest.
According to UK's The Times Law, British courts could award Chai up to RM2.375bil (£500mil), making it the largest in British divorce history.
It said preliminary hearings should take place over the next few months.
“One of the issues will be Dr Khoo's worth - his wife will claim 50% of it, as is the norm in the British divorce court - and whether the family properties, technically owned by his companies, are part of the couple's joint wealth,” it said in a news report written by Frances Gibb.
Chai's lawyer Ayesha Vardag said her client had established her home in England and was entitled to enjoying English law.
“English law works on the basis of a 50-50 split of assets unless there is a reason to depart from that principle. 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.”
Khoo and Chai have five grown-up children and lived a lavish lifestyle with properties in Kuala Lumpur, England, Australia and Canada.
They bought a 404.69ha estate in Hertfordshire, located to the north of Greater London, in 1998, which was estimated to be worth RM141mil (£30mil).
“[It] then became the family home, complete with an exotic animal menagerie, including alpacas and llamas, and with two custom-built lakes each constructed for RM282,869 (£60,000),” said Gibb.
Dr Khoo, who, among others is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of
Malayan United Industries Berhad, is a born-again Christian.
- The Star
PETALING JAYA: One time glamour couple of Malaysia, multi-millionaire Tan Sri Dr Khoo Kay Peng and former Miss Malaysia Pauline Chai (pic), has split.
Khoo, who is listed by Forbes as one of Malaysia's 50 richest men, is a retail and hotel tycoon and owns 40% of international Laura Ashley brand while Chai was Miss Malaysia/International 1969.
Chai, 66, lodged a petition for divorce in London last month on grounds of “unreasonable behaviour”, after 43 years of marriage with the chairman and group chief executive of the Malayan United Industries Group of companies.
Khoo and Chai married in 1970 and have five grown-up children.
Khoo, 74, is also a director of Corus Hotels Limited in Britain and is said to be a staunch Christian.
According to Britain's The Times Law, British courts could award Chai up to RM2.375bil (£500mil), making it the largest divorce settlement in British history.
It said preliminary hearings should take place over the next few months.
“One of the issues will be Khoo's worth his wife will claim 50% of it, as is the norm in the British divorce court and whether the family properties, technically owned by his companies, are part of the couple's joint wealth,” it said in a report.
Chai's lawyer Ayesha Vardag said her client had established her home in England and was entitled to enjoy English law.
“English law works on the basis of a 50-50 split of assets unless there is a reason to depart from that principle,” she said.
Khoo and Chai live a lavish lifestyle, with properties in Malaysia, England, Australia and Canada.
They bought a 404.69ha estate in Hertfordshire, located to the north of Greater London, in 1998, which was estimated to cost RM141mil (£30mil).
According to the report, the estate then became the couple's family home, complete with an exotic animal menagerie, including alpacas and llamas.
They also custom built two lakes, each constructed at the cost of RM282,869 (£60,000).
The 74-year-old also has a 40 per cent stake in Laura Ashley, which now has sales of £286 million a year, and is director of Corus Hotels Limited which owns ten hotels including the grand Corus Hyde Park Hotel.
The couple, who married in 1970 and have five grown-up children, bought the estate in Hertfordshire in 1998 which is said to include a menagerie of animals and two custom-built lakes costing £60,000 each.
Ms Chai, now 66, lodged a petition for divorce in London last month on the grounds of 'unreasonable behaviour' and preliminary hearings are expected to take place in the coming months.
A former Miss Malaysia could receive Britain's biggest ever divorce settlement of up to £500million after splitting from her multimillionaire husband.
Pauline Chai, who lives in the couple's former family home on a 1,000 acre estate in Hertfordshire, is seeking half of Khoo Kay Peng's fortune.
Lawyers believe she could be awarded between £400million and £500million, The Times has reported.
Lavish: Dr Khoo is a director of Corus Hotels Limited which owns the Corus Hotel in Hyde Park
The question of how much Dr Khoo is worth is expected to dominate proceedings as much of his assets are technically owned by his companies.
'English law works on the basis of a 50-50 split of assets unless there is a reason to depart from that principle,' Ayesha Vardag, the lawyer acting for Ms Chai told The Times.
'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.'
Ms Vardag added that as Ms Chai has made her home in England she is entitled to seek justice here.
It is the latest in a series of big-money international divorce cases to be brought to the UK courts.
They include the wife of Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky who received somewhere between £100million and £200million after the pair agreed a settlement out of court.
In 2008 Beverley Charman was awarded £48million when her marriage to John Charman, who built up his fortune in the insurance industry, came to an end.
It remains the biggest court-ordered payout for a divorce in British history.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2294368/Former-Miss-Malaysia-500m-payout-Britains-biggest-divorce-settlement.html#ixzz2O3yxHpsM
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