KUALA LUMPUR — The High Court here today allowed an appeal by the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC), ordering that a garnishee order nisi¹ against former WCT Berhad deputy managing director Goh Chin Liong and Ara Holdings director Leong Ah Chai be made absolute.
The decision paves the way for the capital markets regulator to enforce the recovery of a RM5.83 million judgment sum arising from insider trading breaches committed by the duo.
In today’s proceedings, High Court Judge Yang Arif Leong Wai Hong allowed the SC’s appeal and set aside a previous decision by the High Court Registrar on Dec 17 last year, which had set aside the initial garnishee order nisi. The court also ordered both defendants to each pay costs of RM5,000 to the SC.
A garnishee order nisi is a preliminary court order that temporarily freezes a debt owed by a third party to a judgment debtor, requiring the third party to show cause why the money should not be paid directly to the judgment creditor. Following today’s outcome, the SC confirmed it will proceed with the necessary steps to recover the full judgment sum.
The latest legal battle stems from a full trial in 2022 where the High Court found Goh and Leong liable for insider trading under sections 188(3) and 188(2) of the Capital Markets and Services Act 2007 (CMSA).
The contravention involved the communication of material non-public information and subsequent trading in WCT Berhad shares. The non-public information concerned the cancellation of a contract for the proposed construction of the “Nad Al Sheba Dubai Racecourse” in Dubai, UAE, which had been awarded to a joint venture between WCT and Arabtec Construction LLC.
During the 2022 ruling, then High Court Judge Yang Arif Datuk Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim ordered each defendant to pay RM2,542,184.70 as disgorgement of losses avoided, a civil penalty of RM300,000, and costs of RM75,000 to the SC.
While both defendants appealed the liability ruling and applied for a stay of execution, their stay applications were dismissed by the High Court on Oct 23, 2023, and subsequently by the Court of Appeal on May 14, 2024.
Despite the dismissals, the defendants failed to comply with the SC’s payment demands, prompting the regulator to initiate garnishee proceedings on July 21, 2025.
In a statement, the SC said the outcome reaffirms its commitment to the robust enforcement of civil judgments as a key pillar of its regulatory mandate, adding that it will continue to pursue all available enforcement measures to ensure full payment.
The main appeal against the 2022 insider trading liability decision has been fixed for hearing at the Court of Appeal on July 9, 2026.
The SC was represented by Ng Chian Huey and Adibah Saiful Bahri, alongside external counsel from Messrs Benjamin Dawson, while the defendants were represented by Messrs Jasbeer, Nur & Lee.
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A garnishee order nisi is a preliminary court order that temporarily freezes a debt owed by a third party to a judgment debtor, requiring the third party to appear in court to explain why the debt should not be paid to the judgment creditor.
