KUALA LUMPUR, May 22 — The High Court has today dismissed Kepong MP Lim Lip Eng's bid to defer his payment of RM2 million damages in a defamation lawsuit he lost, pending appeal.
Lim was previously ordered by the High Court in March to pay RM2 million in compensation and RM250,000 costs to MonSpace (M) Sdn Bhd and its founder, Datuk Seri Jessy Lai.
Lim's lawyer Guok Ngek Seong said Judge Datuk Akhtar Tahir rejected the stay application on the grounds that there are no special circumstances to suspend the judgment.
“We will file a fresh motion for stay before the Court of Appeal by this week," he told Malay Mail when contacted.
On March 16, the court ordered Lim to pay the RM2 million, after holding him liable for defaming Lai and her company.
In the lawsuit filed in June 2019, Lai had accused Lim of making allegedly defamatory remarks against the company and her by speaking to the media during a visit to MonSpace’s headquarters in Bukit Jalil 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 gone with 19 Chinese nationals, who claimed they were victims of the MonSpace investment scheme, to the company headquarters to demand a refund or an explanation on why their investment had not materialised.
After the High Court ordered him on March 16 to pay RM2.25 million, Lim had on March 17 launched the crowdfunding effort, with the donations that swiftly flowed in amounting to over half a million ringgit by Saturday noon and climbing to a total of over RM1.4 million by Sunday noon.
By March 20, Lim had announced on Facebook that he has hit the donation target of RM2.25 million and urged his supporters not to donate further, adding that a licenced auditor will be appointed to ensure transparency over the funds collected
