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Kota Kinabalu: The self-proclaimed heirs of the now-defunct Sulu Sultanate failed to assess three Paris properties owned by the Malaysian government in their bids to enforce a US$14.9 billion award against Malaysia related to Sabah, Reuters has reported.

The news service, citing the claimants’ lawyers, court documents they saw, the lawyers and the Malaysian government, reported that French bailiffs tried to assess the properties on Monday following a court-issued seizure order in December, but Malaysian officials at the Paris embassy turned them away.

The claimants, declaring themselves heirs of the last sultan of Sulu, are seeking to enforce the US$14.9 billion award granted to them by a French arbitration court last year to settle a dispute with Malaysia over a colonial-era land deal in Sabah.

Malaysia, which did not take part in the arbitration, maintains the process was illegal and has obtained a stay on the ruling in France, said Reuters.

The Paris properties are only the third set of Malaysian assets that the heirs have publicly acknowledged going after, according to the Reuters report, adding the claimants have secured a seizure order for Luxembourg units of state oil firm Petronas and have sought permission from a Dutch court to seize assets in the Netherlands.