Umno reportedly sued three of its MPs who had defected to Bersatu after the party lost in the 14th general election last year.

According to a news portal, Umno filed the civil suits at Kuala Lumpur and Kota Bharu High Courts naming Jeli MP Mustapa Mohamed (above), Hamzah Zainudin (Larut) and Ikmal Hisham Abdul Aziz (Tanah Merah) for alleged breach of trust, breach of contract, unjust enrichment and legitimate expectations.

Mustapa and Hamzah are also former federal cabinet ministers before Umno-led Barisan Nasional coalition was defeated by Pakatan Harapan on May 9, 2018.

"Yes, the writ of summons was filed yesterday against Mustapa, Ikmal Hisham and Hamzah at the Kuala Lumpur High Court," The Malaysian Insight reported, quoting an unnamed source.

The portal stated that court documents sighted, however, stated that the suits were filed separately in Kuala Lumpur against Hamzah, and at Kota Bharu against Mustapa and Ikmal Hisham (below).

They were filed by Umno executive secretary Mohd Sumali Reduan, who acted on behalf of the party and BN.

On Oct 26 last year, Mustapa announced that he was joining Bersatu, during a press conference at Bersatu headquarters in Petaling Jaya, after having announced his departure from Umno the previous month.

Hamzah and Ikmal Hisham, meanwhile, resigned from Umno in December last year, without stating any reasons for doing so.

The two MPs were accepted into Bersatu in Feb this year, together with another Umno MP, Mas Ermieyati Samsudin (Masjid Tanah) who had left Umno in July 2018.