KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 23): Bright Moon Venture PLT, linked to businessman Datuk Allan Goh Hwan Hua, had signed financing agreements with investors that allowed it to channel funds to other companies linked to the MYAirline Sdn Bhd co-founder, two aggrieved investors told the High Court on Wednesday.
The two 60-year-old investors, Gea Ban Thong and Goh Chiang Beng, who invested RM700,000 in Bright Moon, also reiterated in court that the latter had accepted deposits from them, with promises of returns without a valid licence, contrary to Section 137(1) of the Financial Services Act 2013.
The two men are among the 15 plaintiffs who are suing Allan Goh, Bright Moon, and three other companies — i-Serve Online Mall Sdn Bhd, Trillion Cove Holdings Bhd and QA Smart Partnership PLT — for a return of RM8 million of their total investment.
According to the partners financing agreements that both men had entered into with Bright Moon, the financing sum the men had invested was to be utilised to fund QA Smart Partnership and i-Serve.
Both men had told Judicial Commissioner Leong Wai Hong about their agreements with Bright Moon — Chiang Beng, who is from Taiping, put in RM400,000 in 2020, while Gea, who is from Damansara Utama, put in RM300,000 in 2021.
Both investments had a 3% monthly return from the financing sum.
Gea, testifying on the stand, said that he had invested in Bright Moon as he was made to understand that his investment would be used for the i-Serve business. He said that those funds would be used to buy bulk discounted AirAsia tickets via i-Serve.
The i-Serve business provided an online ticketing platform offering AirAsia air tickets for interested travellers.
“However, as they were allegedly a business that generates its primary revenue online, they were allegedly not able to secure a loan/credit facility from banks, as they didn't have the collateral to secure loans,” he said, adding that investors were assured that this was legitimate.
In separate witness statements, the two individuals reiterated claims of other witnesses that the four companies “operated as a single economic unit”, and that “Allan Goh was the controlling mind” of the companies.
The claims were based on the discovery application granted by the court on Aug 12, which allegedly saw the co-mingling of funds. Allan Goh also received money from i-Serve on several occasions, the plaintiffs alleged, based on bank statements.
The plaintiffs were represented by Amanda Sonia Mathew, Rajesh Nagarajan and Sachpreetraj Singh Sohanpal.
Allan Goh is one of the co-founders of low-cost carrier MYAirline, which collapsed in October last year — less than 11 months after it took to the skies — due to financial troubles.
In the RM8 million suit, which was filed in July 2023, the 15 plaintiffs claimed that at all material times, the four companies were prompt and consistent in their monthly payments of returns.
However, the companies failed to make the agreed upon monthly payments from November 2021 to June 2022, despite having been sent letters of demand by the plaintiffs' solicitors.
In a bid to strike out the suit, Allan Goh contended that the plaintiffs are "statutorily prohibited" from filing the legal action, as the sum demanded was part of the monies seized by Bank Negara Malaysia under the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 (AMLA).
He also claimed that the plaintiffs had defied the law by proceeding with legal action without getting written consent from the public prosecutor.
He further claimed that the allegations in support of the legal action were unsustainable in light of the plaintiffs' own admission that the agreements were not breached until the freeze and seizure orders were imposed.
The legal actions were "vague, imprecise and lacking in material particulars", he added.
Hearing will resume on Dec 16 to 19. The court was informed that the defendants will be calling four witnesses, with Allan Goh slated to testify last.