TTF: The High Court ruled today that there was no evidence to suggest 1MDB suffered losses worth USD3.657 billion (RM14.1 billion) or that there were elements of misconduct by members of the company’s board (see news item below).
The judge, who went on to cite statements issued by the MACC and the AG regarding Najib’s innocence, pointed out that Dato’ Mohamad Ezam Mohd Nor had no locus standi to file the suit, meaning, the former PKR member failed to demonstrate to the court that he suffered – or will imminently suffer – an injury as a result of the alleged losses and misconduct.
What Ezam did do, however, was to reinforce the idea that the Malaysian opposition coalition was responsible for the spread of fake news regarding 1MDB and members of its board. Knowingly or unknowingly, the former-PKR-member-cum-Nurul-Izzah-love-interest jeopardised all of Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s plans and is likely to have sent the former premier into a fit of fury.
For the past three or so years, Mahathir has been getting his people to file senseless lawsuits against Najib and 1MDB to skew public perception against the Prime Minister. The former premier hoped to drag these trials past the 14th general election to impress upon us that the cases were so serious that they warranted lengthy trials.
But Ezam screwed things up.
Thanks to him, it is becoming increasingly clear that all these stories we keep hearing about Najib being a kleptocrat are nothing but fairy tales. If they aren’t, why haven’t people like Lim Kit Siang furnished us the cut-and-dry stuff to put their money where their mouths are?
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KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court here today ruled that there was no evidence that showed 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) suffered losses of US$3.657 billion (RM14.1 billion), as well as proof of misconduct by members of the company’s board of directors.
Judge Datuk Nik Hasmat Nik Mohamad said the Attorney-General and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) in their statements prior to this also stated that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak was not involved in the scandal involving the 1MDB issue.
She made the ruling after allowing an application by Najib and 13 members of the 1MDB Board of Directors, as well as two others, to dismiss a suit by a former senator, Datuk Mohamad Ezam Mohd Nor against them over the alleged loss by the company.
She also said Mohamad Ezam had no locus standi to file the suit.
In the judgment, she said the court found that Mohamad Ezam, in his affidavit-in-reply, stated that he was not a member of the 1MDB board of directors or a shareholder in the company nor had any interests in 1MDB.
“The suit filed by the plaintiff was based on bare averment. I also wonder whether the suit was filed prompted by the plaintiff’s commitment, purportedly representing tax payers in the country, or by his hidden intention for his political development,” she added.
Nik Hasmat said trhe court also found that there was no cause of reasonable action in the claim by Mohamad Ezam and that the suit was petty, an inconvenience and an abuse of the court process.
“Therefore, the court strikes out the suit filed by the plaintiff against all the defendants and orders the plaintiff to pay costs of RM63,000 to all the defendants,” she said.
Najib filed the application to dismiss the suit on July 12, 2017, on grounds that Mohamad Ezam, as president of Parti Bebas Rasuah, had no locus standi to file the suit.
Besides Najib, who was named the first defendant, members of 1MDB board of directors, namely Tan Sri Dr Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah; Datuk Kamal Mohd Ali; Datuk Norazman Ayob; Tan Sri Che Lodin Wok Kamaruddin; Tan Sri Ismee Ismail; Tan Sri Ong Gim Huat and Datuk Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmid, who were named the second until eight defendant, also filed an application to dismiss the suit.
The application to dismiss the suit was also filed by Ashvin Jethanand Valiram; K. Arul Kanda; Mohd Hazem Abd Rahman @Mohamed; Datuk Mohd Bakke Salleh; Tan Sri Azlan Mohd Zainol; Datuk Tengku Rahimah Puteri Al-Marhum Sultan Mahmud Al-Muktafi Billah Shah, who were named the ninth until 14th defendant.
The 15th and 16th defendant, 1MDB and the Malaysian government, respectively, filed the application to dismiss Mohamad Ezam’s suit on April 14, 2017.
In the statement of claim, Mohamad Ezam contended that the US$6.5 billion loan which 1MDB secured with the help of Goldman Sachs International Ltd should have been deposited into the company’s account.
Instead, he said, the defendants had negligently allowed US$3.657 billion of the amount to go to unauthorised parties.
He had sought an for all the defendants to bear the losses and reimburse the US$3.657 billion to 1MDB with interest, cost and other relief deemed fit by the court.
Lawyer Farez Jinnah represented Mohamad Ezam, while Najib was represented by lawyer Datuk Mohd Hafarizam Harun and senior federal counsel Shamsol Bolhassan acted for teh government.
Lawyer Datuk Tan Hock Chuan represented 1MDB and some of its board of directors.
Source: The Malay Mail Online