NATIONAL Feedlot Corporation Sdn Bhd (NFCorp), its executive chairman Mohamad Salleh Ismail and its two subsidiaries today won their appeal in a civil suit they filed against Public Bank Bhd for breach of contract to protect their bank account confidentiality.

Justice S. Nantha Balan, who delivered the unanimous decision of the Court of Appeal panel, said there was a serious misappreciation of evidence, which warranted appellate intervention on the judges’ part.

The panel, which also included Azizah Nawawi and P. Ravinthran Balan, ordered Public Bank to pay RM500,000 in costs.

Nantha Balan said in the case before the appellate court, the trial judge had ignored vital evidence.

“That evidence in particular is the testimony of the bank’s investigation audit head Veronica Foo before the bank’s domestic inquiry panel and indeed the bank’s stance vis-à-vis the charge of serious misconduct against a clerical staff of the bank, Johari Mohamed, which is a breach of section 97(1)of the Banking and Financial institutions Act (Bafia) 1989.

“We therefore allow the appeal on liability in respect of all the appellants,” he said.

However, the bench said since the appellants have succeeded on liability but have failed to prove damages, the court awarded a sum of RM10,000 in nominal damages.

In today’s proceedings, NFCorp, Salleh and the two companies were represented by Muhamad Shafee Abdullah while lawyer Poh Choo Hoe appeared for Public Bank.

In the court’s ruling, Nantha Balan said the trial judge was erroneous in treating the domestic inquiry notes of proceedings (NOPs) as irrelevant to the issues at the trial.

“By doing so, the judge misdirected herself because the domestic inquiry NOPs were obtained by the appellants after a heavily contested application for discovery.

“The issue of relevance of domestic inquiry notes of proceedings was res judicata and it was erroneous for the bank to object to appellants’ counsel making reference to the NOPs and for the judge to have rejected it as being irrelevant,” he said.

Nantha Balan said the thrust of the appellants’ case at the High Court is the person who leaked the confidential information was Johari, who was at all material times a clerk at Public Bank’s Jinjang branch and was asked to attend to matters related to credit work.

“Johari used this opportunity to get into the bank’s IBM mainframe to download and print the appellants’ related documents, and CCTV footage showed he put the printed documents in an envelope, kept it in his drawer, and took it with him when he left the office on February 16, 2012.

“The domestic inquiry panel was convinced Johari had committed the acts of misconduct and found him guilty of the said charge,” he said.

On July 29, 2019, the High Court dismissed the suit brought by NFCorp, Salleh and two subsidiaries – National Meat and Livestock Corporation Sdn Bhd and Agroscience Industries Sdn Bhd – against the bank.

On May 22, 2012, NFCorp, Salleh and the two subsidiaries filed a suit against Public Bank for breach of contract in protecting confidentiality of their account.

The suit alleged the bank breached confidentiality by allowing details of banking transactions to be revealed by then PKR vice-president Rafizi Ramli (now economy minister).

They also said their business reputation and credibility were irreparably damaged as a result of the security breach under the Bafia by the bank. – Bernama, August 30, 2023.