‘Parasite’ brother accused of taking advantage of his elderly parents for 36 years before claiming the bulk of their £600,000 estate, court told

Two siblings are locked in a £600,000 inheritance battle with their ‘parasitic’ older brother, claiming he leeched their parents for 36 years before unfairly trying to get his hands on the bulk of the inheritance.

Robert Chung, 62, claims he was only promised the family home when he left his ‘well-paying’ job in the film industry to return home to his parents to care for them.

He said he sacrificed his career and worked at the Job Center for more than three decades, taking care of his father Victor and then his mother Irene Chung until his death in 2016.

But his senior siblings – senior accountant Marina Bennett, 60, and IT manager Richard Chung, 58 – claimed it was actually their mother who was looking after Robert, describing him as a ‘disappointment’ and a ‘financial burden’.

They insist that he is a ‘pathological liar’ with a ‘grandiose view’ of himself and that his involvement with the ‘movie industry’ is actually just a job at the Blockbuster video store.

The duo wants the house and property to be divided into three, with the showdown now continuing in court.

Central London District Court heard Victor and Irene Chung brought up their three children in a three-bed detached house in Mulberry Way, South Woodford, East London, now worth around £400,000.

Faisel Sadiq, for Marina and Richard, said that although the young duo had gone out and carved out successful careers, Robert had been a ‘disappointment’ and had failed to fly the nest properly.

Marina Bennett, Robert’s younger sister, says her brother sits in the living room watching movies all day

Although he moved from the family home to Berkshire, he returned in 1990, took a job in a Business Center and never left his parents’ home again.

Giving evidence, Robert told Judge Lawrence McDonald that he only returned home because he was asked to provide care for his elderly parents.

His father had cancer and died in 1998, but he wanted Robert to stay to care for his mother, who he said needed help with cooking and cleaning.

He said his parents promised to buy the house if he did so, but the will his mother prepared in his favor in his last days was not fulfilled before her death in 2016.

Since he died without a valid will, his inheritance would be divided into three with his two siblings. This led to an eviction notice from the property’s professional manager and sparked Robert’s court battle for ownership of the house.

Representing himself, he said that he had acted against himself by returning home in 1990, leaving his job ‘in the film industry’ behind and hoping to build a successful career by fulfilling his duty to his family.

“I didn’t want to end up working in a Job Center, but I did that for 22 years,” he told the judge. ‘This is a choice I made for my family.’

He said that off the field he worked for Blockbusters but also wrote promotional copy for movies and also worked in merchandising.

Richard Chung, 58, agrees with his sisters that the house and property should be divided into three

Controversy surrounds the heritage of this three-bedroom house in South Woodford, East London

But Mr Sadiq said it was a matter for the younger siblings to make no promises about the house and it would be out of character for their parents to do so.

In fact, Robert’s parents did not need and did not receive any care from their son, who moved back in with them for his own reasons and became a “financial burden”, the lawyer said.

And Robert’s claim that he moved back because his father was diagnosed with cancer was “completely false” because the diagnosis wasn’t valid until 1992.

Mr Sadiq said: ‘Our situation is that you are a slightly disappointing son who does not leave home and is financially dependent on his parents.’

‘Your parents always wanted all three of their children to set out on their own and have their own homes. It was a great disappointment for your mother and father when you returned home.

‘Your father never needed you or received care from you at any point before he died. His cancer did not cause him to need any care except for the last month of his life.

‘The mother did not need any help or care until the last few years. She remained the strong and determined woman that she was.

‘It was actually the position where your mother was the one looking after you until the last year of your life.

‘He cooked his meals and washed his clothes. When his health deteriorated, you didn’t provide him with the care he needed, did you?

‘You never paid any attention to your mother. ‘You didn’t feed him, you didn’t take much care of his dirty clothes, and you left a tip on the house.’

Responding, Robert denied this, telling the judge that his mother always made sure her clothes were clean and prepared her meals before she went to work.

In her statement, Marina said she visited her mother regularly even after emigrating to North America, but missed 2015 and was shocked when she came home the following year.

‘I was horrified by what I saw,’ he said. ‘He had lost 30 kilos. For someone who was supposedly looking after my mother, Robert Chung had failed.’

Before this, she said she had never seen her brother pay attention to his mother, accusing him of ‘laying in the living room watching movies all the time and doing everything around you with my mother’.

Describing him as a “pathological liar”, he said that if promises had been made that Robert could buy the house then he would “move heaven and earth” to put them in writing.

‘Robert is different. “He is a very manipulative person with a talent for lying and is not a good person,” he said.

‘Robert has a grandiose view of its importance. He boasts that he is self-employed while in reality he works at a video store.

‘He said he worked at Blockbusters the other day.’

Addressing her directly, he added: ‘Your mother and father wanted you to live on your own and have your own home. They’d support you on this, but nothing I’ve seen so far supports your promise that the house will be yours.’

Marina, who denied hating her brother, told the judge that she ignored him, as she had done since she was little, because it would “take energy and emotion” to dislike him.

However, Robert told the judge that his sister and brother’s statements should be treated with caution due to the obvious bad feeling between them and that they would benefit financially if he could not buy the house.

He stated that neither of them had direct knowledge of the promises, or lack thereof, because they were not at home with him at the time.

He said his sister was “by no means an impartial witness” and noted phrases such as “pathological liar”, “sociopath”, “parasite” and “greed and jealousy” in her 2019 testimony.

Robert’s lawyers said troublemaker Richard “was a beneficiary and was clearly against Robert.”

“His subsequent statement used clearly hostile language, including ‘parasite’ and ‘basically lazy,'” they added.

“Marina doesn’t want me to have a house, she doesn’t want me to have a home,” Robert told the judge. ‘You don’t care if I end up on the street.’

After a week in court, McDonald postponed his decision on the dispute to a later date.

The lawsuit was filed by the professional administrator of Irene Chung’s estate, asking the judge to rule that Robert must leave the house so it can be sold and the proceeds divided.

While Robert defends his claim to ownership, he also countersues for ownership of the house based on promises his parents allegedly made to him.

The manager is also demanding nearly £200,000 from Robert towards rent on the property over the years he has been in the house since he was first asked to leave after his mother’s death.