A FAMILY is locked in a court tussle over two properties worth millions three years after a Singaporean businessman killed himself while awaiting trial for killing his adopted son.

One house - in Margate Road off Mountbatten Road - was in the name of Charles Loo Chay Loo, who was taken off life support three months after he tried to end his life in a San Francisco prison. Loo was then 51.

The registered owner of the other house - in Seraya Lane off Haig Road - was Loo's wife, Madam Wendy Chen Tsui Yu, 55.

But Loo's mother, Madam Tan Chan Tee, 80, and his older brother, Mr Loo Chay Sit, 57, say they had paid for the houses and are the actual owners.

Charles and his wife were only holding the properties in trust for them, they claim.

The case to determine who owns the properties opened in the High Court on Monday and is fixed for a 10-day trial.

Read the full story in Tuesday's edition of The Straits Times.