MELBOURNE: An Indonesian-born man jailed for murdering his wife’s Malaysian lover in a brutal ‘honour killing’ is embroiled in a civil dispute with his brother, who he claims sold his taxi while he was in prison.
Hazairin Iskandar, 58, is suing his brother, Zulfriki Mahbur, and two acquaintances, Aminah Theglory and Wahyu Sasterawan, claiming they deceptively sold both his taxi and taxi licence plates while he was in custody in May 2010, the Australian Associated Press (AAP) reports.
Iskandar was jailed for at least 17 years last December for the murder of Melaka-born Mohd Shah Saemin, who had been having an affair with Iskandar’s wife, Nita Iskandar.
Iskandar and his son, Andrew, attacked Mohd Shah with a knife and hammer outside his Leichhardt flat in Sydney’s inner west in February 2010.
In a statement of claim tendered to the Supreme Court, Iskandar said a contract for the sale of his taxi was “procured by deceit” by his brother and Sasterawan, who sold it to Sasterawan’s partner, Aminah Theglory.
Iskandar claimed his brother and Sasterawan visited him in prison on April 27, 2010 when he appointed his brother as power of attorney.
He told them to get the taxi from the police and give it to a man named ‘Peter’ to be used on a profit-share basis, the statement of claim said.
Instead, on May 5, the same year, the taxi was sold to Theglory.
“The real object and intention of (Mahbur) and (Sasterawan) was to steal (Iskandar’s) money,” the statement said.
Mahbur and Sasterawan used their “ascendency” over Iskandar at a time when Iskandar was “at (their) mercy”, it said.
Iskandar, who was in court for the hearing, is seeking damages, costs and for the taxi sale to be set aside. Justice Patricia Bergin will hand down judgment at a later date. — Bernama