1MDB lawsuit: US$681m Mareva freezing order against Najib stays

The Kuala Lumpur High Court has maintained the US$681 million (RM3.2 billion) Mareva freezing order against former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak.

The commercial court this morning denied the former finance minister’s bid to lift the freezing order which was previously obtained by 1MDB as part of the sovereign wealth fund’s US$8 billion lawsuit against him.

On Feb 9 last year, the court granted the Mareva injunction to 1MDB and its subsidiaries against Najib over the sovereign wealth fund's claim of US$681 million allegedly going into his personal bank account.

During open-court proceedings this morning, judge Atan Mustaffa Yussof Ahmad ruled that there is a material risk of dissipation of the targeted US$681 million if the Mareva injunction is set aside.

The judge pointed out that the nature of Najib's asset disclosure in the matter shows a heightened risk of asset dissipation if the restraining order is removed, pending disposal of the main lawsuit.

Counsel Khoo Guan Huat acted for plaintiff 1MDB. Lawyers Alaistair Brandah Norman and Muhammad Farhan Muhammad Shafee appeared for defendant Najib.

Back in 2019, the application allowed by Atan only granted the former prime minister permission to withdraw up to RM100,000 monthly from his bank accounts to meet his expenditure or living expenses.

A Mareva injunction is a freezing or asset protection order that prevents a defendant or respondent from transferring assets which may include money held in banks or financial institutions pending the completion of legal action.

The freezing order only applies to Najib, even as other former directors and board of advisers were named in the 1MDB suit.

Najib will have to apply to 1MDB's solicitors if he needs to withdraw more than the RM100,000 a month stipulated by the court.

Najib's conviction in the RM42 million SRC International Sdn Bhd graft case was among the reasons that prompted 1MDB and its subsidiaries to apply for the freezing order.

1MDB and Global Diversified Investment Company Ltd (previously known as 1MDB Global Investment Ltd) and three of its units had filed the injunction application via legal firm Messrs Skrine.

1MDB and its former subsidiary SRC International Sdn Bhd filed a RM23 billion suit against Najib and several others accused of defrauding the state-owned firms.

Najib is serving a 12-year jail term and was fined RM210 million for the graft charges related to RM42 million he received from SRC International. - Mkini