PERHAPS it’s not about being desperate as much as wanting to regain back what is rightfully theirs that has prompted former Goldman Sachs banker Roger Ng Chong Hwa and his wife Lim Hwee Bin to file two separate suits at the Kuala Lumpur High Court naming RHB Bank Bhd and Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) as defendants.
Both suits were filed through Messrs. Tan Hock Chuan & Co on Jan 27. Based on the statement of claim sighted by Bernama, the couple is seeking an order for the defendants to immediately allow them direct access to two RHB Bank accounts and five Maybank accounts belonging to them within seven days from the date of the court order.
Besides this, both plaintiffs are seeking an order for the defendants to supply to the plaintiff copies of the account monthly statements for RHB Bank and Maybank from March 2019 until the date of the court order, including information on monthly or annual interest in those accounts.
They are also claiming from the defendants special damages totalling RM100,000 from RHB Bank and Maybank, including general and exemplary damages as well costs and relief deemed appropriate by the court.
According to the couple, the prosecution had filed an application to the Kuala Lumpur High Court to forfeit money in their Maybank and RHB Bank accounts but on Nov 8 last year but the court rejected the forfeiture application given the prosecution had failed to show those bank accounts were connected to offences resulting from illegal activities.
Following the High Court’s decision, Lim went to Maybank (Plaza Damansara branch) and RHB Bank (Bangsar Shopping Centre Office Tower) branch to seek direct access to those accounts.
“However, the defendants had failed, were negligent and refused to allow the plaintiffs direct access to the accounts,” the plaintiffs claimed in the statement of claim to Maybank and RHB Bank on Nov 18 last year.
In all honesty, one wonders if the couple is not stretching their luck a tad too far. After all, the husband who is embroiled in a mega scandal linked to the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) is currently on a fraud trial in in the US District Court, Eastern District of New York.
Ng, 50, is the only Goldman Sachs Group Inc banker to be charged in the multibillion-dollar 1MDB scandal.
Beyond that, the couple should be well-versed with legal matters pertaining to their rights given that Lim (the wife), 51, is a lawyer herself. Wouldn’t their action then – to a layman – be perceived as trying their luck for it can be contested that the money perceived to be rightfully theirs is “not theirs” in the first place?
Well, the learned judge may see things from a different light – and may even make a judgment that favours the couple at the end of the day. Henceforth, in all fairness to Ng and Lim, it makes valid sense to go for broke as they have nothing to lose.
After all, disabling their rights to access their bank accounts has denied Ng and Lim their basic rights to pay daily expenses including medical bills, their daughter’s education fees, home care and personal loans (as highlighted by their notice of claims to both banks).
Who knows if the judge presiding over their case – after a thorough evaluation – may rule that they can recoup a portion if not all of their money that have been frozen?
Meanwhile, Maybank in a statement of defence filed on March 23, claimed that the Attorney General’s Chambers had filed an appeal to the Court of Appeal against the High Court’s decision and ordered that the accounts remain seized under the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activity Act 2001 (AMLATFPUA).
According to Maybank, as the forfeiture proceedings are currently at the appeal stage, the accounts should remain seized until the final disposal of the proceedings.
RHB Bank through a statement of defence filed on March 10 claimed that the forfeiture application was still being pursued through appeal and the authorities had not yet revoked or amended the seizure order and as such, the money would remain confiscated.
Checks via the court system show that the suit against Maybank is set for case management on May 13 while for RHB Bank, the case management has been set on July 13 – April 8, 2022
