Judicial Commissioner Azlan Sulaiman ruled that defendants Safeway Solution Sdn Bhd and Lim Wei Leong were liable for fraud, misrepresentation and for failing to secure approval from the education ministry to run the programme.

He also held that the said agreements were tainted with illegality as they contravened the Franchise Act 1998 and the Education Act 1996.

As a result, Azlan declared void all agreements entered between the defendants and the six plaintiffs – Superbrain Training Centre, The Growing Tree Enrichment Centre, BZ Mind Art & Creative Centre, Bright Training Centre, Neuro Development Sdn Bhd and Insegnate Sdn Bhd.

He also found them jointly and severally liable for all losses and damages suffered, and ordered that they refund the plaintiffs RM555,000 and pay them an additional RM1.8 million in exemplary damages.

He also ordered the defendants to pay the plaintiffs general damages to be assessed by a court registrar and a total of RM180,000 in costs.

In a 43-page judgment delivered on Friday, Azlan found that between 2016 and 2017, the plaintiffs had, after reading a Facebook posting and attending a presentation, invested about RM555,000 in an education programme titled “Brain-Zone Full Brain”, an IQ enhancement plan for children.

They later discovered that Safeway Solution had not registered the programme with the education, and the domestic trade and consumer affairs ministries, which the plaintiffs said rendered the programme illegal.

The plaintiffs also discovered that Lim, who owned the programme, was also the controlling mind of Safeway Solution.

Lawyers R Rishi and Daljit Singh represented the plaintiffs, while counsel Kok Kean Kang and Yong Siew Lee appeared for the defendants.