The Court of Appeal also affirmed the High Court’s judgment which had awarded the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) a total of RM5.83 million for the breaches.

In delivering the decision today, Court of Appeal Justices Datuk Mohamed Zaini Bin Mazlan, Datuk Leonard David Shim and Dato’ Hajah Aliza Binti Sulaiman unanimously dismissed both appeals with costs of RM100,000 each and upheld the High Court’s judgment as the court found no appealable error that warranted appellate intervention. 

The Court further affirmed the High Court’s judgment ordering Goh and Leong to each pay RM2,542,184.70 as disgorgement of losses avoided, RM300,000 as civil penalty and costs of RM75,000 to the SC (collectively referred to as the Judgment Sum). 

The SC first filed a civil claim against Goh and Leong in 2015 for insider trading breaches under sections 188(2) and 188(3) of the Capital Markets and Services Act 2007 (CMSA). 

Evidence by the SC showed that Goh had communicated material non-public information to Leong concerning the cancellation of a contract for the proposed construction of a racecourse in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The contract was earlier awarded to a joint-venture company set up by WCT and Arabtec Construction LLC. 

Leong subsequently disposed 1,640,000 WCT shares in Ara Holdings’ trading account between 2 and 5 January 2009. The then High Court judge Yang Arif Dato’ Ahmad Zaidi Ibrahim, ruled in favour of the SC after a full trial. 

Previously on 26 May 2026, the SC had succeeded in its appeal to the High Court to reinstate garnishee orders against Goh and Leong, allowing the SC to enforce recovery of the RM5.83 million Judgment Sum arising from the insider trading breaches by both Defendants. Following the disposal of the appeal today, the SC will proceed with next steps to recover the Judgment Sum from the Defendants.

At the Court of Appeal, the SC was represented by its officers Ng Chian Huey and Adibah Saiful Bahri, alongside SC’s appointed external counsel Benjamin John Dawson, Eileen Othman and Tan Hui Ru from Messrs Benjamin Dawson. Goh and Leong were represented by Dato’ Jasbeer Singh from Messrs Jasbeer, Nur & Lee. 

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.