M'sian tycoon in UK gambling dispute
Malaysian tycoon Lim Han Joeh is reportedly taking legal action against an exclusive gambling club for allowing him to gamble for 72 hours with limited breaks.
According to a report by UK-based Daily Mail, Lim in a legal filing argued that Aspinall's Club's inaction was in violation of the country's Gambling Act 2005 which required vulnerable people to be protected from being harmed or exploited by gambling.
The report cited a High Court writ in the UK in which Lim's lawyers argued that Aspinall's Club, instead of stopping Lim's gambling marathon which saw a losing streak, extended a credit of almost GBP2 million (RM11.23 million) to him.
Lim had reportedly started with a cheque of GBP600,000 (RM3.37 million) before being extended the loan.
"Aspinalls allowed the claimant a further line of credit of GBP2 million, which he proceeded to lose as well. The claimant had a losing streak and was visibly desperate and panicked.
"However, Aspinalls took advantage of the claimant's distressed attempts to claw back the losses by allowing further funds and more time to gamble," according to the writ cited by the report.
The legal action came after Lim lost a court case brought by Aspinall's Club which had sought to claim the GBP1,995,437 loan it had extended to him.
According to a UK court ruling of the dispute, the gambling incident took place in October 2015. He became a member of Aspinall's Club in Jan 2014.
In September 2018, Aspinall's Club initiated legal action to recover the loan, including seeking to freeze his assets and an order for Lim to disclose his other assets across the globe.
The court ultimately decided in Aspinall's Club's favour. It also fine Lim GBP100,000 for contempt of court after finding that he had, among others, failed to comply with the disclosure.
Lim was the executive director at Yinson Holdings Berhad from 1996 to 2016. He was later redesignated as a non-independent non-executive director.
Han Joeh is the brother of Lim Han Weng, who founded the company.
