Justice Yusrin Faidz Yusoff also ordered the former employee, Zaidi Nor, to pay a further RM185,150 to the plaintiff.
Yusrin, who is based in Kuala Terengganu but who delivered the decision online on Wednesday, also ordered Zaidi and the businessman, Nor Azhar Hamzah, to pay RM100,000 in costs to the firm.
He also awarded interest at 5% per annum, calculated from May 20 until the full judgment sum is settled.
The company had called five witnesses during the trial while the two defendants took the witness stand to rebut the plaintiff’s case.
Zaidi had been entrusted to lead a construction and management project taken on by the company.
It claimed that Zaidi had breached his fiduciary duties to the company by demanding a total sum of RM865,000 from several contractors involved in the project.
These funds were channelled into the bank account of an enterprise registered in Azhar’s name, before later being shared with Zaidi.
Having discovered the secret payments in 2022, the company filed the suit against Zaidi for breach of fiduciary duty and Azhar for dishonestly assisting in Zaidi’s breach of fiduciary duty.
The court held that the documentary evidence showed a clear money trail, with contractors making secret payments to Azhar’s bank account before they were distributed to Zaidi, his wife and Zaidi’s business.
The court also found that the secret payments were made at Zaidi’s request.
Yusrin said the payments were “secret profits” or bribes held in constructive trust for the plaintiff.
The judge found that the plaintiff had locus standi to commence the action against Zaidi as the former senior general manager had admitted to being assigned to the project at its behest.
He held that Azhar allowed his enterprise’s bank account to be used as a conduit to receive the funds, which were then distributed to Zaidi.
He was thus liable as an accessory for dishonest assistance.
Yusrin agreed with the plaintiff that no issue of illegality arose because this was not a case of enforcing an illegal contract but rather a case of fiduciary duty. He said the court will not allow a fiduciary to keep the bribes.
Lawyers Lim Choon Khim, Chin Yan Leng, and Yeoh Yao Huang appeared for the company. Zamri Idrus represented Zaidi while Saifuzzaman Abdul Rahman acted for Azhar.