Supermax co-founder Thai showed total disrespect to the administration of justice in family court drama

Focus Malaysia

24-04-2025

SUPERMAX Corp Bhd executive chairman Datuk Seri Stanley Thai Kim Sim had wilfully refused to comply with the term of the Kuala Lumpur High Court Order to declare his assets and bank accounts.
Justice Evrol Mariette Peters in her written grounds of judgment on April 8 said she found the conduct of the 64-year-old Supermax co-founder to be deliberate, intentional and a wilful refusal to comply with the Court Order.
It was also indicative of his impertinence and total disrespect to the administration of justice which the Court took an extremely dim view of.
'Contempt of court is, therefore, less about an individual's personal failure to follow orders and more about the broader principle that the judicial system must be respected and able to operate without interference,' revealed Justice Peters.
'No one should be allowed to thumb their nose at any court order regardless of his position.'
Thai was fined RM60,000 for refusing to fully comply with a High Court order that instructed him to divulge certain details in the judicial separation proceedings initiated by Datuk Wira Tan Bee Geok. In addition, he was ordered pay Tan RM30,000 in costs.
Justice Peters further commented: 'I must emphasise that Thai is no stranger to financial or legal matters. As an experienced businessman, he is well-versed in handling complex financial transactions, asset management and legal compliance.
'Given his expertise, he undoubtedly understood the necessity of full financial disclosure especially in proceedings involving asset division. His failure to disclose his bank account balances cannot reasonably be attributed to ignorance or oversight.'
'Not remorseful'
By filing the Application to Set Aside which was baseless and unsubstantiated, Justice Peters contended that Thai had deliberately prolonged the committal proceedings, thus creating unnecessary hurdles instead of addressing the core issue which was his failure to comply with the Court Order.
She agreed with Tan's contention that Thai's move was a calculated delaying tactic designed to waste judicial time and evade accountability.
Justice Peters went on to add that even after being fully apprised of his breaches, Thai took no steps to correct his non-compliance.
Despite ample opportunity to provide full and accurate financial disclosure, he refused to take remedial action, hence demonstrating a blatant disregard for the Court's authority.
'To make matters worse, Thai failed to issue even an apology for his failure to comply,' she ruled.
'Acknowledging wrongdoing – if not through substantive action, then at least through an expression of regret – could have signalled some willingness to rectify his conduct. Yet, his continued silence only reinforced his lack of accountability.'
Accordingly, the Court imposed a fine of RM20,000 for each of the three categories of non-compliance which amounted to a total fine of RM60,000. The categories were as follows:
Thai's failure to fully disclose details of his bank accounts;
The failure to disclose all of his bank accounts, including his EPF; and
The limited disclosure of shareholding and properties as of the date of the Judicial Separation in April 2022.
Thai and Tan's marriage suffered after numerous allegations were made by both parties against the other. Tan filed for judicial separation in April 2022, while Thai filed his divorce petition in April last year.
At 2.52m, Supermax was unchanged at 80 sen with 3.81 million shares traded, thus valuing the glove maker at RM2.61 bil. – April 24, 2025
Main image credit: The Edge