‘Black hole’ case: Soon Koh’s exclusion from testifying hampered Chong’s defence, appeals court told

KUCHING (Jan 27): The Court of Appeal here was told on Tuesday that then Second Finance Minister Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh was subpoenaed to be a witness in the 2013 ‘black hole’ defamation trial, but that this was set side by judicial commissioner Alexander Siew How Wai at the time.

Lawyer Michael Kong, representing appellant Chong Chieng Jen, submitted this when highlighting the grounds of appeal for the Sarawak Democratic Action Party (DAP) chairman against Siew’s judgment that favoured the Sarawak government and the State Financial Authority (SFA).

Kong said although it was for the parties to decide who were to be called as witnesses, the judicial commissioner had on his own volition set aside the subpoena issued to Wong to testify.

In 2013, Chong—then Kota Sentosa assemblyman—alleged via Sarawak DAP pamphlets that RM11 billion from the state’s coffers had disappeared into a “black hole”—implying financial mismanagement by the state government and the SFA.

At the material time, Wong was Second Finance Minister.

“Due to his (Wong) position within the administration, he was an important and material witness and was in the position to give evidence relating to the allegations raised by the defendant in the pamphlet,” said Kong.

He insisted that Wong’s testimony was important towards Chong’s defence, particularly in the form of justification, fair comment, and/or qualified privilege in regards the allocation of a total sum of RM11,373,179,400 to the ‘Government Contributions Towards Approved Agencies Trust’ between the years of 2006 to 2013.

He said this non-disclosure was despite the Auditor-General’s directives for a full statement of accounts to be laid before the State Legislative Assembly to enhance public accountability.

“If allowed to testify, Wong’s testimony would have established those facts and therefore justified the defendant’s statement in the leaflet, which includes that “… It can be private or cronies or family companies who have received such funds”,” said Kong.

He added that such evidence from Wong would “undoubtedly have a realistic and substantial prospect of making a meaningful difference” to the outcome of the case.

“Despite the importance of his testimony, he was not called to be a witness by the plaintiffs. With that being the case, the defendant took the opportunity to subpoena Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh.

“However, the learned judicial commissioner proceeded to disallow him from giving evidence for the defendant,” Kong said.

Chong’s legal team is seeking a retrial in the High Court before a different judge, or for their appeal to be allowed by the appellate court.

The Court of Appeal panel comprises Justices Datuk Mohamad Zaini Mazlan, Datuk Ismail Brahim, and Muniandy Kannyappan.

Representing the Sarawak government and the SFA were senior state counsel Adzrul Adzlan, assisted by Felicity Sharmela Thomas.

In his submission, Adzrul argued that Siew did not err in his judgment and had conducted the trial in an orderly manner.

On Aug 30, 2022, one year after the conclusion of the trial, Siew delivered the judgment against Chong and ordered him to pay RM150,000 as damages and RM50,000 as costs.

Though judgment was made, no grounds of judgment was provided.

On Nov 27 the same year, Chong—the current Stampin MP and Padungan assemblyman—filed an appeal against Siew’s judgment, but the hearing of the appeal could not proceed due to Siew not producing the grounds of judgment.

On Aug 12, 2025, the Court of Appeal ordered Siew—who by then had been confirmed as a High Court judge—to produce the grounds of appeal within one month.

On Sept 19, Chong received the grounds of judgment from the High Court Registry, thus setting in motion his appeal.

The appellate court on Tuesday set Feb 19, 2026 for case management and to fix a date for delivery of appeal judgment.