KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (July 2): The High Court in Kuala Lumpur today granted 1Malaysia Development Bhd and its four subsidiaries an extension of time to serve writs in their US$8 billion lawsuit on 15 defendants, including former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak. The case was called up by Judicial Commissioner Atan Mustaffa Yussof Ahmad, who was in charge of case management.
The court had granted an extension of time for the writs to be served, according to counsel Siva Kumar Kanagasabai of theedgemarkets.com.
“Due to the lockdown, it was not served until later, and the Chief Justice granted an extension. On August 16, 2021, a case management date has been set “he stated
Najib was named as one of the 15 defendants in the claim by 1MDB, 1MDB Energy (Langat) Ltd, Global Diversified Investment Company Ltd (previously 1MDB Global Investments Ltd), 1MDB Energy Holdings Ltd, and 1MDB Energy Ltd.
Former 1MDB directors Tan Sri Che Lodin Wok Kamaruddin, Tan Sri Ismee Ismail, Tan Sri Ong Gim Huat, and Ashvin Valiram, as well as former 1MDB chief executive officers Datuk Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi and Mohd Hazem Abdul Rahman, and former chief financial officers Azmi Tahir and Radhi Mohamad, were also named as defendants.
Former 1MDB officers Terence Geh Choh Heng, Jasmine Loo Ai Swan, Casey Tang Keng Chee, Vincent Beng Huat Koh, Kelvin Tan Kay Jin, and Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil were also mentioned in the action.
They are being sued for US$7.795 billion for fraudulent deception, fraudulent violation of obligations, fraudulent breach of trust, breach of statutory and contractual responsibilities, conspiracy, negligence, knowing receipt, dishonest assistance, fraudulent misappropriation, and unjust enrichment.
Najib is currently on trial for four counts of abuse of authority and twenty-one counts of money laundering totaling RM2.28 billion, while Hazem is testifying in the case./n
