JUDGMENT

Roz Mawar Rozain J:

[1] This is an action in defamation where the Plaintiff, an advocate and solicitor of the High Court of Malaya practising under the name and style of Messrs. Sara Deo & Co, seeks damages against the four Defendants for alleged defamatory statements published between 16 April 2021 and 1 June 2021. The Defendants, who were members of the Management Committee (MC) of Amadesa Resort Management Corporation (ARMC), have filed their defence and counterclaim.

[2] The case centres on 6 alleged statements made during a professional relationship where the Plaintiff was engaged to investigate allegations of fraud involving employees of the property management company. There is also further alleged defamation purportedly caused by the Defendants through anonymous emails under the pseudonym 'Jennifer Lau'.

[3] The case continues to the Defendants' Counterclaim with allegations that the Plaintiff had defamed them in communications with the residents of Amadesa Resort Condominium vide WhatsApp group chat.

[4] The spar of words that showed their dispute arose from the Plaintiffs recommendations regarding an employee named Kalaivani d/o Anamanthan (Vani) - a former employee of Meadow Facilities Sdn bhd (Meadow Facilities) who became the administrative assistance for ARMC after Meadow Facilities resigned as ARMC's property manager, and the subsequent breakdown of the professional relationship between the Plaintiff and the MC.

Factual Matrix

[5] The parties' Agreed Facts and extensive evidence adduced at trial confirmed the following factual matrix that starts with the Plaintiff who is an advocate and solicitor with 13 years' standing, practising under the name and style of Messrs. Sara Deo & Co At the material time, she, together with Messrs Gregory Yusran & Associates, was engaged as legal advisers to ARMC.

[5] The Defendants were all members of the MC of Amadesa Resort Condominium and was elected to act on behalf of ARMC at the material time. The 1st Defendant was the then Chairperson of the MC. The 2nd Defendant to the 4th Defendants are residents who were at the material time members of the MC.

[6] In December 2020, the MC approached the Plaintiff for legal advice regarding serious allegations of fraud involving approximately RM250,000.00. The MC had reasonable grounds to believe that several former employees of the property manager Meadow Facilities, namely Cynthia Joseph Leo (Cynthia Joseph) and Nora binti Basir (Nora Basir), had:

(a) Unlawfully rented out illegal parking bays and collected parking income;

(b) Unlawfully collected building deposits and maintenance fees;

(c) Stolen monies from ARMC's petty cash system.

[7] Cynthia Joseph had passed away in July 2020, while Nora Basir's employment was terminated by Meadow Facilities in August 2020 following complaints from the MC. Following these serious allegations, Meadow Facilities resigned as property manager, but the MC decided to retain one other Meadow Facilities' employee, Vani, as an administrative assistant.

[8] On 24 December 2020, ARMC formally appointed the Plaintiff and Messrs Gregory Yusran & Associates as legal advisers. The agreed scope of work included:

(a) Investigating the alleged fraud and advising on elements of mismanagement, breach of trust, and embezzlement;

(b) Rendering legal opinion(s) and where fit, to recommend to ARMC legal action(s) that could be taken arising from the alleged fraud;

(c) Rendering legal advice on strata management matters generally.

[9] On the same date, Meadow Facilities resigned as the property manager of ARMC.

[10] The Plaintiff expressed her shock to discover that no police report had been lodged despite the magnitude of the alleged fraud. She advised the MC to lodge a police report, which was subsequently done on 28 December 2020.

[11] During a meeting between the MC, Plaintiff, and residents on 27 March 2021, some residents disclosed they had reason to believe that Vani was also involved in the alleged fraud.

[12] On 12 April 2