KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 30 — Bersatu’s Badrul Hisham Shaharin, better known as Chegubard, and content creator Nurpais Ismail claim they were never served with a defamation suit filed by businessman Farhash Wafa Salvador and were “shocked” to learn of it only after the High Court awarded RM550,000 in damages against them.

Yesterday, the court ruled in Farhash’s favour, finding that Badrul had made “serious, damaging and actionable” statements in a podcast last year that portrayed Farhash as corrupt and manipulative.

The court held that Badrul was the “originator” of the defamatory statements and Nurpais was the “publisher who disseminated them.”

The duo’s lawyer, Rafique Rashid Ali, said today his clients only found out about the lawsuit after media reports of the judgment were shared with them, Free Malaysia Today reported.

“They maintain that they never received the suit or knew about its existence. We have advised them about their rights, and both of them will take further action on this matter,” Rafique said.

Neither Badrul nor Nurpais had entered an appearance in court to defend themselves against the suit.

Farhash had filed the lawsuit over a series of statements and videos published on Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube in May of last year.

He alleged the publications falsely accused him of corruption, abuse of power, cronyism, and misusing political influence to secure government contracts.