Former Mudajaya employee appeals court order to pay group RM43.6m

• The group had also filed an appeal against part of the court's decision, said Mudajaya, without giving further details.

KUALA LUMPUR (July 4): Mudajaya Group Bhd (KL:MUDAJYA) said its former employee Michael Chua Khian Keng has filed an appeal to challenge the High Court’s decision in the civil suit brought against him by the group.

The court, in its decision on June 7, ruled that Chua and his wife, Tan Kah Lua, are liable to pay RM43.55 million in relation to an acknowledged debt to Mudajaya. Additionally, they must pay interest at a rate of 5% per annum on the sum of RM43.55 million from the date of judgment until final settlement. The court also imposed costs of RM500,000.

In a bourse filing on Thursday, Mudajaya said Chua and Tan filed the notice of appeal on July 1 against the court’s decision.

The group had also filed an appeal against part of the court's decision, said Mudajaya, without giving further details.

Besides the civil suit, Chua also faces criminal charges. In March 2019, he was charged with misappropriating funds from a power plant project totaling RM800,000. Mudajaya was the subcontractor for the civil and structural works in this RM720 million contract awarded in June 2011.

The alleged misappropriation of funds was said to be conducted through “multi-layered transactions,” with funds deposited into a bank account jointly owned by Chua and his spouse, as well as an individual bank account belonging to his biological brother.

The case goes all the way back to 2015 when Mudajaya's internal management working group conducted a comprehensive review of additional costs incurred on a specific project undertaken by the group which was included in the group’s 2014 fourth-quarter report, announced on February 27, 2015. The internal investigation revealed irregular transactions related to this project, which led to additional costs.

Mudajaya’s shares closed half a sen or 3.33% lower to 14.5 sen on Thursday, valuing the group at RM308.26 million.

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