6,000 Investors Kantoi RM411 Million

The High Court here has rejected for the second time an application by investors to recover their money from the company’s directors and majority shareholders from now defunct Bestino Group Bhd. In a brief decision on Friday (Oct 4), Justice Hashim Hamzah said the plaintiffs' case was rejected without cost.

Counsel Yudistra Darma Dorai, who was accompanied by R. Christopher Anand, said he would advise his clients to file for an appeal again.

He said in his view, it is a clear-cut case of where the minority shareholders have had their rights oppressed.

"Evidence put forward by the minority has not been rebutted by the defendants because they did not call witnesses. This is the same approach taken previously by the defendants, and the court of appeal had already disagreed with that approach," he said.

In 2017, Justice Che Mohd Ruzima Ghazali had dismissed the case with costs, stating that the plaintiffs should have brought the summons against the gold investment scheme company for any breach, and not against the defendants. 

The plaintiffs then made an appeal to the Court of Appeal last year, where a decision was made to revert the case back to the High Court here. Since the scheme was suspended in June 2009, over 6,000 investors have been trying hard to recover their money, totalling RM411mil.

The defendants are company directors Chong Yuk Ming and Chang Kuei Geh, and majority shareholders Goon Koon Lee and Ho Chee Cheong.

In June 2016, the investors had a glimmer of hope when the High Court here granted leave to the minority shareholders to sue the four defendants. This enabled the plaintiffs to file summonses on behalf of the group against the directors and majority shareholders.

Lawyers R. Raj Shankar and K. Kumaran represented the defendants. 

A.Gopalan Nair, a spokesman for the plaintiffs, said they would appeal the case, and fight until the end. He said in their 10-year struggle, many of them had lost all their savings and hard earned money.

"Where is justice for us? We will continue to ensure we get our money back using all channels within the law. The government should set up a Consumer Protection Act to ensure people are protected from such scandals," he added.