14th July 2026, theedgemalaysia.com, KUALA LUMPUR — The Court of Appeal on Tuesday unanimously affirmed the High Court’s decision in 2022 that found former WCT Bhd (KL:WCT) deputy managing director Goh Chin Liong and Ara Holdings Sdn Bhd director Leong Ah Chai liable for insider trading.
A three-member appellate panel, comprising justices Datuk Mohamed Zaini Mazlan, Datuk Leonard David Shim and Datuk Aliza Sulaiman, unanimously dismissed both their appeals with costs of RM100,000 each, as it ruled there was no appealable error that warranted appellate intervention.
The panel also affirmed the judgement that awarded the Securities Commission Malaysia a total of RM5.83 million for the breaches, according to a statement from the SC. This comprises RM2.54 million that Goh and Leong has to pay each as disgorgement of losses avoided, as well as RM300,000 as civil penalty, and costs of RM75,000 to the SC.
The civil suit against Goh and Leong was first filed in 2015, for insider trading breaches under the Capital Markets and Services Act 2007.
The SC said it had presented evidence that showed Goh had leaked material non-public information to Leong concerning the cancellation of a contract for the proposed construction of a racecourt in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The contract was awarded earlier to a joint venture company set up by WCT and Arabtec Construction LLC.
Armed with that information, Leong sold 1.64 million WCT shares in Ara Tradings’ trading account between Jan 2 and 5, 2009, it said.
Following the dismissal of their appeals on Tuesday, the SC said it will proceed with the next steps to recover the judgement sum from the defendants. The regulator had previously succeeded in its appeal to the High Court on May 26, 2026 to reinstate garnishee orders against the two defendants, which allowed them to enforce recovery of the judgement sum.
“The SC views insider trading as a serious breach as it undermines the integrity of the capital market and seriously erodes investor confidence. The Court of Appeal’s decision today sends a clear message that such misconduct will not be tolerated.
“The SC will continue to pursue enforcement actions to uphold market integrity and public confidence in Malaysia’s capital market,” the capital markets regulator said.
The SC was represented by its officers Ng Chian Huey and Adibah Saiful Bahri, together with its external counsel Benjamin John Dawson, Eileen Othman and Tan Hui Ru from Messrs Benjamin Dawson.
Goh and Leong were represented by Datuk Jasbeer Singh from Messrs Jasbeer, Nur & Lee.
