PUTRAJAYA: A businessman from Sarawak has won his appeal at the Federal Court to set aside a tour agent's counterclaim against him, which sought to recover gambling debts.
In a unanimous decision delivered on Wednesday (Feb 26), the three-judge panel, led by the Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak Abdul Rahman Sebli, ruled that gaming and wagering contracts are deemed unlawful and gambling debts are not enforceable under Malaysian law.
Fellow Federal Court Judge Nordin Hassan, who read out the judgment, said that tour agent Ting Siu Hua's counterclaim was to recover gambling debts from businessman Datuk Ting Ching Lee.
"It is undisputed that the credit lines and the rolling rebate were for the appellant, Ching Lee, to purchase Naga Casino gambling chips to gamble at the casino.
"He did so, lost, and had to pay for the credit lines and rolling rebate," the judge explained, adding that the credit facilities could not be termed as a genuine loan independent of Ching Lee's gaming activities at the casino.
Justice Nordin remarked that Section 31(1) of the Contracts Act 1950 and Section 26 of the Civil Law 1956 were enacted to curb gambling activities, and Malaysian courts have also taken the stand that gambling is against public policy.
"There is nothing good or beneficial for the public if gambling activities were to be encouraged. That was why the government took a clear stand when it expressed its view in Parliament to combat online or offline gambling," Justice Nordin said.
The third judge on the panel was Justice Abdul Karim Abdul Jalil.
The panel allowed Ching Lee's appeal to overturn the decision of the appellate court, which had permitted Siu Hua's counterclaim to recover US$1.5mil credit and US$193,800 rolling rebate given to Ching Lee for gambling at Naga Casino in Cambodia.
The dispute began when Ching Lee and two others filed a lawsuit against Siu Hua for defamation, prompting the latter to file a counterclaim seeking to recover monies based on two lines of credit extended to Ching Lee for gambling at the casino in Cambodia.
The High Court dismissed both the defamation lawsuit and Siu Hua's counterclaim. The Court of Appeal upheld the High Court's dismissal of the defamation suit but allowed Siu Hua's appeal regarding his counterclaim for recovery of credits, leading to the matter going to the Federal Court.
Siu Hua has been a tour agent since 2000 and was appointed as a promoter or junket organiser to bring players to gamble at casinos.
In 2015, Ching Lee, along with two others, made a trip to the casino where he was granted a credit of US$1.5mil and a rolling rebate of US$193,800.
After returning from the trip, they alleged that Siu Hua had caused the publication of defamatory statements against them in a Mandarin newspaper and on the WeChat app.
Subsequently, the trio filed a defamation lawsuit against Siu Hua, who, in turn, lodged a counterclaim at the High Court seeking the recovery of monies that had been provided. – Bernama
