TLDR The Ipoh High Court ruled that gambling debts cannot form the basis of a bankruptcy case in Malaysia. Judge Moses Susayan set aside a bankruptcy order against Lee Fook Khuen, 75, sought by Resorts World at Sentosa. The debt totaled S$5.930 million and stemmed from a S$10 million platinum credit facility used for gambling in Singapore. The ruling relies on a Federal Court decision that gambling credit facilities are void and not separate loans. Resorts World has filed a notice of appeal against the July 6 judgment.
The Ipoh High Court has ruled that gambling debts cannot be used to bring bankruptcy proceedings in Malaysia. The decision came from Judge Moses Susayan on July 6, in a case involving Resorts World at Sentosa Pte Ltd.
The case centered on Lee Fook Khuen, a 75-year-old man who owed S$5.930 million. The debt came from a platinum-status credit facility worth S$10 million that Lee used for gambling in Singapore.
Lee did not appeal the original judgment against him in Singapore. The debt was later registered in Malaysia under the Reciprocal Enforcement of Judgments Act 1958 in November 2018.
How the Case Reached the High Court
Lee tried to stop enforcement of the judgment in Malaysia. That attempt failed, and the case eventually went all the way to the Federal Court.
With that door closed, Resorts World moved forward with bankruptcy proceedings against Lee. The company won approval from the High Court’s senior assistant registrar in February last year.
Judge Susayan later overturned that decision in May. His written judgment, released this week, runs 26 pages.
In it, he said he was bound by an earlier Federal Court ruling in a case called Datuk Ting Ching Lee v Ting Siu Hua. That ruling found that gambling credit facilities are