Trio of men at centre of Ali Sultan will battle deny wrongdoing as stoush heads towards mediation

A dispute over the will of late property mogul businessman Ali Sultan will likely head into mediation, with three men at the centre of the stoush officially denying any wrongdoing.

THREE men at the centre of Ali Sultan’s will dispute have officially denied any wrongdoing in the wake of the property mogul’s death.

Integrity Commission chief commissioner Aziz Gregory Melick AO, Sultan Holdings accountant Mark Saltzman and lawyer Damian Egan have each denied allegations levelled against them by Mr Sultan’s oldest son Moe.

Moe Sultan. Sultan case at supreme court in Hobart. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court of Tasmania heard on Tuesday heard that two of the defendants – lawyer Ian Creese and Sultan Holdings project development manager Timothy Lucas – were no longer parties to the dispute after rescinding their involvement.

Associate Justice Stephen Holt also noted the matter may soon head into mediation rather than move directly into a full court trial.

Ali Sultan, a well-known businessman, died unexpectedly in January this year after a heart attack while walking on kunanyi / Mt Wellington.

Mr Melick, Mr Saltzman and Mr Egan have now formally denied they invalidly appointed themselves directors of Sultan Holdings and that they were “unfit to be granted probate” of Mr Sultan’s will.

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They also denied money from the estate was misused.

“In response to the claim generally they say that they do not receive any beneficial interests in any of the said wills (and) that their respective interests are confined to the appointments as executor and trustee as pleaded in various wills,” Mr Melick and Mr Saltzman’s joint defence reads.

They have made a counterclaim for formal orders that appoint them as executors.

The pair and Mr Egan also dispute Moe Sultan’s claims that his father’s December 2020 will, made just weeks before he died, was not valid.

Mr Sultan claims his father had limited English skills, particularly in comprehension of written documents, and that the will – and one made prior to it in November 2018 – did not reflect his intentions.

He says his father’s last valid will was made earlier in 2018, or alternatively even earlier back in 2012.

His younger brother Saleh, who is also listed as a defendant, has also filed a written defence with the court, although the amended statement of claim does not allege any wrongdoing by him.

Two further defendants, Mezed Eid and Mohamad Eid, were granted an extension of 21 days to file their defences.

The two men also have not been accused by Mr Sultan of wrongdoing.

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