This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on March 3, 2025 - March 9, 2025

Last week, the Federal Court sent out a clear message: gambling debts are unenforceable under Malaysian law.

In a case between Bintulu businessman Datuk Ting Ching Lee and junket operator Ting Siu Ha, the court ruled on Feb 26 that any attempt to recover gambling-related credit is not legally enforceable.

Siu Ha had extended a US$1.5 million credit line and a US$193,800 rolling rebate to Ching Lee to punt at Cambodia’s Naga Casino in 2015. Upon returning from the trip, Ching Lee alleged that Siu Ha had made defamatory statements against him in Sin Chew Daily and on WeChat.

Ching Lee then filed a defamation suit against Siu Ha, while Siu Ha filed a counterclaim at the High Court to recover the credit given.

The High Court dismissed both the defamation suit and the counterclaim.

On appeal at the Court of Appeal, the appellate court upheld the dismissal of the defamation suit but ruled in favour of Siu Ha’s counterclaim, deciding that the credit was a loan and therefore enforceable.

However, the Federal Court last week overturned the Court of Appeal’s decision, ruling that since the credit extended was for gambling, it was unenforceable under Malaysian law.

Now, let’s be clear — this was not a dispute between a casino and a gambler. It was between a junket operator and a client.

Junket operators act as middlemen in the world of gaming, bringing in high rollers and fronting them with credit to play, often with backing arrangements from casinos.

The Federal Court’s ruling leaves no room for doubt — if a gambler refuses to pay a junket operator, the courts will not help to collect the debt.

This raises big questions for the junket business. While casinos remain insulated — they hold deposits from junket operators to cover losses. But junket operators are now fully exposed.

If a client walks away from his gambling debts, junket operators have no legal recourse. This ruling could force them to be extremely selective, limiting their services to only the most trustworthy of high rollers.

In an industry where “the house always wins”, it is the middleman who now faces the biggest gamble.

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