KUALA LUMPUR – The High Court has dismissed 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) and 10 other companies’ application to rely on an affidavit by Singaporean Shabnam Naraindas Daswani in support of their Mareva injunction bid against Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor.
Justice Wan Muhammad Amin Wan Yahya made the decision late Monday afternoon, refusing to grant leave for Shabnam’s affidavit to be used in support of 1MDB’s application. He also ordered 1MDB to pay RM10,000 in costs to Rosmah and fixed Nov 27 for case management.
The outcome was confirmed separately by Datuk Seri Rajan Navaratnam of Messrs Navaratnam Chambers, who represented Rosmah, and Lee Shih of Messrs Lim Chee Wee Partnership, appearing for 1MDB, according to The Edge.
Besides Rajan, Rosmah was represented by Dennis Nandrajog and Sheena Sebastian from Messrs Nandrajog. Nathalie Ker, Sachin Nair, Villasha Anbalagan, and Chiang Jian Yi appeared for 1MDB and the other plaintiffs.
The media had been barred from covering the hearing of 1MDB’s application, which was conducted between July and October this year, and was again barred from Monday’s decision.
1MDB had sought to admit Shabnam’s affidavit to support its bid for a Mareva injunction aimed at freezing Rosmah’s assets.
On June 20, The Edge reported that Shabnam, previously the second defendant in the US$346 million (approximately RM1.44 billion) suit, had filed an affidavit supporting 1MDB’s Mareva injunction application. She was removed as a defendant in April and had expressed a willingness to assist Malaysian authorities.
Shabnam, who was cleared by Singaporean authorities of any wrongdoing in the 1MDB scandal, claimed that she befriended Rosmah in 2003, accompanied her on overseas trips, and helped select valuables including jewellery and handbags.
The companies alleged in their June 2024 statement of claim that the funds used to purchase the luxury items were misappropriated from 1MDB and SRC International Sdn Bhd. They claimed the monies were channelled through offshore entities unrelated to the companies’ investment objectives, serving instead as conduits to conceal the final destinations of the diverted funds.
Rosmah, 74, is alleged to have acquired valuables from 48 vendors across 14 countries.
The plaintiffs are seeking several remedies, including:
Recovery of the luxury goods or their traceable proceeds, and a declaration that Rosmah received them without consideration, constituting a breach of fiduciary duties or trust;
Alternatively, payment of US$346.01 million (about RM1.63 billion) as compensation; and
A court order to freeze Rosmah’s assets up to the same amount.
Initially, Shabnam was named as a co-defendant alongside Rosmah for her role in procuring or purchasing the luxury goods.
The civil suit follows a failed government forfeiture bid after the high-profile 2018 raid on a Pavilion Residences condominium owned by OBYU Holdings Sdn Bhd, where police seized more than 12,000 pieces of jewellery, hundreds of handbags, and watches. – November 10, 2025