JUDGMENT

Atan Mustaffa Yussof Ahmad J:

[1] Ng Seang Heng went on a million ringgit gambling spree, not with his own, but someone else's money. Specifically, money from an innocent company's bank account using forged payment instructions. By the time the bank discovered the forged forms based on which it remitted monies to the gambler via a junket operator's account, funds were gone. The junket operator claims it dealt bona fide - immediately putting incoming monies into more casino chips given to Ng. Hence the bank's hopes of recovery hit a blank wall. Now the bank wants the money repaid - but the junket operator says it cannot pay back what it no longer has. The dispute turns on whether the junket operator can be held liable to repay the funds it received due to the bank's mistake. The court will have to determine who will bear the cost of Ng's lavish spending escapade: the bank or the junket operator?

Background Facts

[2] The plaintiff, RHB Bank Berhad ('RHB'), is a licensed bank in Malaysia. The defendant, Richland Leisure Group Sdn Bhd ('Richland'), is a junket operator that has been authorised by Genting Malaysia Berhad ('Genting') since January 2010 to operate a Local Group Casin