The family of doctoral student Mohd Ali Mohd Salim, when contacted by FMT, said there was no agreement yet with Malaysia Airlines Bhd (MAB) on the compensation due to a dispute over the amount.

“We received a letter from MAB which gave a different amount from that agreed on between our family and the lawyers,” said Mohd Zaki Mohd Salim, the older brother of Mohd Ali.

At the time of his death, Mohd Ali was studying for his PhD in development neuropsychopathology at Erasmus University in Rotterdam, Holland.

He was among 283 passengers and 15 crew on board the Boeing 777-200ER, on a scheduled flight from Holland to Kuala Lumpur, when it was believed to have been hit by a missile while flying over eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014.

All those on board, who included 43 Malaysians, were killed.

Mohd Ali had been looking forward to becoming a lecturer at Universiti Sains Malaysia after graduating.

Mohd Zaki, who spoke for the family, said there had been difficulties obtaining evidence of payments and remittances made by his brother to the family before the tragedy.

“At that time, he was still a student and unemployed. They (MAB) want black and white evidence of transactions made by him (to assess the amount of compensation).

“He (Mohd Ali) definitely gave money to the family each month, but there is nothing in black and white as the money was given directly,” he said.

MAB, in a statement to FMT, said compensation had been paid after an agreement was achieved between the next-of-kin and the company, but did not reveal the amount.

“We can confirm the two sides received the decision positively and in confidence.

“However, we cannot reveal further details in order to respect the privacy of the family and ensure the safety of its members are not placed at risk,” said MAB.

Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai was previously reported as saying that US$50,000 (RM195,000) had been given to the next-of-kin of each of the victims as an advance payment.