Businessman Albert Tei and former Sabah Mineral Management Sdn Bhd (SMM) chief executive officer Jontih Enggihon have each been fined RM100,000 by the High Court for contempt of court.
Judicial Commissioner Ratanah Devi Yusof Perumal found that both men had deliberately breached the clear terms of ex-parte and ad-interim orders issued by the court.
“I find that although the terms of the ex-parte and ad-interim orders were clear, there were clear breaches of the terms of both court orders,” she said in her judgment on September 18, according to a report by Free Malaysia Today.
The court ordered both Tei and Jontih to pay the RM100,000 fine within 14 days of the judgment.
Failure to pay could result in each of them being sentenced to 21 days in prison.
SMM was represented by lawyer Datuk Roger Chin, while Jontih and Tei were represented by Jul Hamri Jumhani and Chong Kian Ming respectively.
The dispute stems from legal action filed by SMM in January last year against Jontih and Tei, in which the company alleged fraud, breach of fiduciary duties, interference with official documents and conspiracy to cause losses.
In August last year, Tei filed a suit against SMM, alleging that the company had falsely linked him to a conspiracy aimed at damaging its reputation and that of its current CEO, as well as allegations involving interference with documents.
However, on August 28 this year, the Kota Kinabalu Sessions Court dismissed Tei’s defamation suit after finding that he had failed to establish the elements required to prove defamation in his claim.
Tei is also facing several corruption charges involving two former state assemblymen and a former senior political secretary to the Prime Minister.
