wa-22ncvc-732-11-2021 — 1. ) LEONG MING KWAI 2. ) GAN BEE AI v 1. ) CITIBANK BERHAD 2. ) LOW KAI XIAN 3. ) LIM SENG HAN 4. ) TAN CHIN WEI 5. ) TETUAN SHAHRIZAL & NASIR 6. ) KOO SHI XUN 7. ) SHAHRIZAL BIN ABD RAHMAN

Catchwords

TORT – Negligence – Duty of care – Banker and customer relationship – Plaintiffs alleged the bank breached its duty of care by releasing the original property title to third parties based on a forged Letter of Authorisation – Whether a concurrent duty in tort can override or circumvent express contractual terms – Whether the bank was obligated to conduct further verification (e.g., a call-back) when signatures matched the bank's records. CONTRACT – Sale and Purchase of Land – Validity of Sale and Purchase Agreement (SPA) – Allegation of forgery and lack of intention to sell – Plaintiffs alleged the transaction was an illegal loan agreement and that documents were signed under the guise of lodging a caveat – Plaintiffs admitted receiving payments from the purchasers – Whether the SPA was valid and binding. TORT – Conspiracy and Fraud – Solicitors – Solicitor signed as an attesting witness to the SPA and other documents without being personally present during the execution by the Plaintiffs – Whether a breach of professional ethics ipso facto establishes civil liability for the tort of conspiracy – Failure of the Plaintiffs to properly plead the elements of conspiracy by lawful or unlawful means. EVIDENCE – Burden of Proof – Forgery – Section 101 Evidence Act 1950 – Plaintiffs challenged the authenticity of their signatures on the SPA and Letter of Authorisation – Necessity of expert evidence to prove forgery – Failure to adduce expert handwriting evidence – Failure to call the key witness (the alleged illegal moneylender) – Effect of failing to call a material witness.

Practice Areas

TORT

Judges (1)

John Lee Kien How @ Mohammad Johan Lee Delivered

Counsel (10)

Dominic Pragasam Tan & Co. Firm Shahrizal & Nasir Firm Shearn Delamore & Co. Firm Y K Chin Firm Badrol Hisham Counsel Defendant Chong Yew Siong Counsel Defendant Dominic Selvam Counsel Plaintiff Lee Le Yi Counsel Defendant Puuline Koh Xiu Yi Counsel Defendant Sathya Kumardas Counsel Defendant

Parties (9)

CITIBANK BERHAD Defendant TETUAN SHAHRIZAL & NASIR Defendant Gan Bee Ai Plaintiff Koo Shi Xun Defendant Leong Ming Kwai Plaintiff Lim Seng Han Defendant Low Kai Xian Defendant Shahrizal bin Abd Rahman Defendant Tan Chin Wei Defendant

Statutes Cited

Evidence Act 1950 (Cap 56)

Specific Relief Act 1950 (Cap 137)

Cases Cited (20)

UK (4)

[1922] 2 AC 36 [1986] AC 80 [1989] 2 All ER 159 [1990] 1 QB 993

MY (16)

[1971] 2 MLJ 196 [1984] 2 MLJ 10 [1993] 2 CLJ 464 [1996] 4 CLJ 1 [2001] 2 CLJ 344 [2009] 1 MLJ 349 [2010] 4 CLJ 203 [2011] 7 MLJ 621 [2014] 7 MLJ 104 [2015] 6 MLJ 1 [2016] MLJU 1648 [2017] 2 MLJ 629 [2017] 4 MLJ 697 [2018] 5 MLJ 561 [2019] 2 MLJ 553 [2021] MLJU 574