KUALA LUMPUR – Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has failed in his bid to strike out the Mareva injunction granted to the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) sovereign wealth fund today.
In making the decision, high court judge Atan Mutaffa Yussof Ahmad affirmed the Court of Appeal’s decision to freeze Najib’s assets while limiting the latter to withdraw a maximum of RM100,000 monthly.
As per the injunction order, the former Pekan MP must not remove or dispose of the value of any of his assets up to the value of US$681,000,000 (RM3,204,445,500) worldwide until the disposal of the case.
A Mareva injunction is a court order that effectively freezes the assets of a defendant from being dissipated pending the outcome of a legal action before the courts.
On December 6, last year, the Court of Appeal dismissed Najib’s application to cancel the Mareva injunction order issued by SRC International Sdn Bhd and its subsidiary to prevent him from transferring and disposing of any of his assets worth RM42 million.
The order is currently still in force while waiting for the final decision of the US$8 billion suit filed by 1MDB and four of its subsidiaries against Najib and the former senior management of 1MDB.
Along with Najib, others named in the suit include former 1MDB financial director Terrence Geh Choh Heng, former 1MDB lawyer Jasmine Loo Ai Swan, former 1MDB executive director Casey Tang Keng Chee, and former chief operations officers Vincent Beng and Radhi Mohamad.
Also named as defendants are former 1MDB investment director Kelvin Tan Kay Jim and former SRC International CEO Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil. – September 27, 2023