GROUNDS OF JUDGMENT

INTRODUCTION

[1]This ground of judgment addresses an application for summary judgment under Order 14 of the Rules of Court 2012 in Enclosure 8, for a liquidated monetary judgment for the sum of RM1,556,613.74. The central issue for determination is whether the Defendant, having executed a formal written agreement expressly acknowledging the debt and having subsequently entered a plea of guilty in the criminal court in respect of the same underlying transactions, may challenge the Plaintiff’s application for summary judgment. The court now has to consider whether the Defendant can now proof any defences disclosing bona fide triable issue sufficient to warrant a trial, displacing the Plaintiff’s prima facie entitlement to judgment under the summary procedure.

BRIEF BACKGROUND

[2]The Plaintiff, Mok Yan Quan instituted a civil claim, against the Defendant, Chin Chee Keong arising from a commercial transaction concerning the sale and purchase of prepaid cards which were subsequently discovered by the Plaintiff to be counterfeit. In April 2023, the Defendant represented to the Plaintiff that he was selling official prepaid cards issued or authorized by Omnipay (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd and Omnipay Inc (Philippines, Hong Kong, Indonesia & Canada) specifically Union Pay Omni Genetic Cards and UnionPay Custom Made (Pi Network) Cards.

[3]Relying on these representations, the Plaintiff placed several orders between April and June 2023, in which the Defendant had issued four invoices under the name of Magic Partners Sdn Bhd, namely:

(i)#2135/202317.04.20235,000120,000.00

(ii)#2139/202317.04.20231,70034,000.00

(iii)#2148/202306.06.20233,30079,200.00

(iv)#2209/202319.06.20235,00067,500.00

Total15,000300,700.00

[4]At the Defendant’s instruction, the Plaintiff effected payment amounting to USD 424,510, inclusive of deposits and top-up credits, directly into the Defendant’s personal cryptocurrency wallet. However, unknown to the Plaintiff and only until recent discovery, Magic Partners Sdn Bhd had already been dissolved under Section 551(3) of the Companies Act 2016 in 27 December 2018.

[5]Subsequently on or about 21 July 2023, the Defendant effected delivery of only 3,000 pieces of the prepaid cards to the Plaintiff, notwithstanding his contractual obligation to supply the full quantity ordered. Thereafter, the Defendant repeatedly gave excuses to defer the balance delivery and in order to procure further indulgence of time, the Defendant entered into a written agreement referred to as the “Confirmation of Debt and Payment Agreement” dated 20 October 2023. This agreement was signed by both parties in the presence of Tan Lai Yee who acted as a witness and an Advocate & Solicitor of the High Court of Malaysia.

[6]By the express terms of the Agreement, the Defendant personally and unequivocally acknowledged that a liquidated debt in the sum of USD 333,322.00, equivalent to RM1,556,613.74 as of 21 August 2023, was due and owing to the Plaintiff. Pursuant to the Agreement, the Defendant made two partial payments amounting to RM5,400.00 on 20 September 2023 and 26 September 2023 into the Plaintiff’s Maybank account, but thereafter defaulted and failed to make any further repayment.

[7]Moving on to the 23rd of October 2023, Plaintiff had inspected the 3,000 prepaid cards supplied by the Defendant and discovered that they were all counterfeit, wholly unusable and without any legitimate value. Instead of bearing unique QR codes and serial numbers as genuine cards would, all 3,000 pieces carried identical QR codes, evidently printed by the Defendant himself. On the same day, the Plaintiff sought verification from Omnipay (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd. Omnipay confirmed that the Defendant had no official connection, status or authority whatsoever to represent or distribute products on behalf of Omnipay (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd or Omnipay Inc and that he had unlawfully appropriated and misused their corporate name.

[8]On 24 October 2023, the Plaintiff lodged a police repor