KUALA LUMPUR (May 31): Senior Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali, who is also International Trade and Industry Minister, and his three children have settled a lawsuit brought by YHA Travel and Tours (M) Sdn Bhd, with the terms of the settlement to remain confidential.

YHA Travel’s lawyer Adam Yap confirmed that Azmin also agreed to withdraw his counterclaim against the firm and pay RM1,000 in costs.

“The plaintiff withdrew the case against the children with no order as to costs and no liberty to file afresh.

“It also withdrew the case against the minister with no order as to costs and no liberty to file afresh. However, the defendant (Azmin) is to pay RM1,000 to the plaintiff as costs. The parties agreed to have the terms of settlement to be confidential,” Yap told The Edge.

The settlement was recorded before Sessions Court judge Lailatul Zuraida Harron @ Harun when the case was called up at 3pm.

On May 24, the hearing of YHA Travel’s suit against Azmin and his children over unpaid travel bills was deferred following some “positive developments”.

It was reported on April 26 that the RM102,560 suit against Azmin’s children was going for mediation, while the suit against the senior minister would proceed.

The three children are Farah Affifah (involving a claim of RM3,880), Farah Amira (RM6,400) and Mohamed Ameer Shazrin (RM92,280).

The firm had to refile its suit last September after another daughter, Farah Syazlina, paid her dues of RM8,510.

Meanwhile, the firm also filed a suit to seek payment of RM167,332 from Azmin, who it said had been a customer of the travel agency for 20 years.

The firm claimed the senior minister would normally settle his bills within three to four months but in this instance the payments had been outstanding for far longer.

It was referring to family trips made between Sept 10, 2018 and Aug 5, 2019, including to Marrakech, London, Jakarta, the Gold Coast, Dubai, Geneva, Singapore, Bangkok, Barcelona and Santorini.

The company also provided the itineraries of Azmin’s trips to Hanoi and Kota Kinabalu between Sept 14 and Sept 16, 2018, and to Sandakan on May 10 and 11, 2019, which was during the Sandakan by-election.

Following the revelations, Azmin filed his counterclaim against the company’s majority shareholder Yasmin Hanim Arbee and her husband, chairperson Datuk Mohd Ayub Hassan.

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