RM2m compensation: Lim Lip Eng seeks Court of Appeal stay pending appeal on defamation lawsuit

KUALA LUMPUR, May 23 — Kepong MP Lim Lip Eng is now asking the Court of Appeal to defer his payment of RM2 million compensation and RM250,000 legal costs for a defamation lawsuit which he had lost since he is still appealing in that court case.

The High Court yesterday morning rejected Lim's application to stay or defer the RM2.25 million payment to MonSpace (M) Sdn Bhd and its founder, Datuk Seri Jessy Lai over the defamation lawsuit.

Yesterday, Lim immediately filed an application at the Court of Appeal to stay or defer the RM2.25 million payment, until the Court of Appeal decides on his appeal over the defamation lawsuit.

When contacted, Lim's lawyer Guok Ngek Seong told Malay Mail that the stay application is scheduled for case management at the Court of Appeal tomorrow.

If Lim succeeds in getting a stay at the Court of Appeal on the RM2.25 million payment, the money will continue to be held by the law firm representing him as a stakeholder — and cannot be obtained by MonSpace and Lai — until the Court of Appeal decides on the appeal in the defamation case.

Previously on March 16, the High Court ordered Lim to pay RM2 million in damages and RM250,000 in costs to MonSpace and Lai for defaming them, as well as to issue an apology.

Lim has appealed against the High Court's entire March 16 decision, with no hearing date fixed yet at the Court of Appeal for this appeal in the defamation lawsuit.

After losing the defamation lawsuit, Lim on March 17 launched a crowdfunding campaign and on March 20 announced that the RM2.25 million donation target had been achieved. The donations were channelled directly to the client's account of the law firm representing Lim to be held on trust.

Among reasons stated in his stay application to the Court of Appeal, Lim said there were special circumstances to justify the deferring of the RM2.25 million payment.

Lim argued that there was no reason for the High Court to deny him a stay of the RM2.25 million payment, as the law firm representing him had been ordered to keep the crowdfunded sum as a stakeholder while waiting for the Court of Appeal to decide on the appeal.

In his stay application filed yesterday, Lim also claimed there was a real risk over whether the RM2.25 million could be recovered from MonSpace and Lai if he were to make the payments to them now, and if the Court of Appeal later decides to overturn or reverse the High Court's March decision which found that he had defamed them.

Previously, Lim said on Facebook that a licensed auditor would be appointed to ensure transparency over the donations collected, and promised donors that the RM2.25 million would go to charities and education institutions if he succeeds in his appeal in the defamation lawsuit.

In the defamation lawsuit filed in June 2019, Lai had accused Lim of making allegedly defamatory remarks to the media during a visit to MonSpace’s Bukit Jalil headquarters on May 23, 2017, claiming that the remarks implied she was dishonest, not law-abiding, running an illegal business and had cheated its Chinese investors.

Lim and Sungai Pelek assemblyman Ronnie Liu Tian Khiew had visited MonSpace with 19 Chinese nationals — claiming to be victims of the MonSpace investment scheme — to demand a refund or an explanation on why the latter's investment had not materialised.