The Kuala Lumpur High Court has fixed June 19 to hear Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s application to strike out a subpoena order compelling him to testify in a suit against businessperson Vinod Sekhar and his wife Winny Yeap in a civil suit.
Lawyer Colin Perreira told Malaysiakini that Anwar’s lawyers Sanjay Mohansundram and Rodney Gan had applied for today’s proceedings to be adjourned, to give way to the application.
“I had objected to the postponement because of the late filing of the application,” said Perreira, who represents the 12 plaintiffs accusing the couple of persuading them to invest with Vinod or with his various companies without disclosing his purported bankruptcy at the time.
“(However) the court postponed today’s hearing and granted new dates, which were May 4 for the plaintiffs to file their affidavit in reply, as well as May 11 for Anwar to reply to the said affidavit, and June 19 to hear the application,” Perreira said, adding that this morning’s proceedings on the RM30 million suit was held in chambers.
Initially, judicial commissioner Adam@Edward Abdullah was scheduled to continue hearing the case this week, with Anwar meant to take the stand following the subpoena order served to him in January.
However, the prime minister filed to strike out the order on April 15.
The defendants’ lawyer, Rajan Navaratnam, confirmed the new dates and said June 25 has been fixed for trial.
‘No ties to Vinod’
Anwar, in his application filed last week, claimed that it is wholly misconceived and without basis to allege that he and Vinod have a close relationship, despite being referred to as an “ally” in the defendant’s email exchange with two of the plaintiffs in 2008 and 2010.
Anwar further said there is nothing in the emails to suggest that he had any involvement in matters forming the subject of the ongoing suit.
“As a public figure and politician, I meet many individuals and have numerous supporters, and it is not uncommon for persons to refer to me in their communications.
“However, such references, without more, do not justify my being called as a witness in a suit merely because such individuals or supporters subsequently become litigants,” he said in his supporting affidavits.
Name-dropping
The plaintiffs said in their statements of claim that they queried Vinod on his supposed bankruptcy via email on Sept 30, 2020, and that the businessperson allegedly “brushed it off”.
The plaintiff claimed that Vinod appeared to suggest that one “Anwar” would attend to the matter and that the defendant is aligned with the referred individual, whom they believed referred to the prime minister.
Ten out of 12 plaintiffs in the case - Ronald Barrie Clapham, Graham David Bell, Arthur J Mirante II, Charles Robert Henry Stone, Paul Sallis Benney, Paul Nicholas Smith, Octavio Augusto Vallarino Arias, Simon Hafeitz Homsany, Talbortt Gerard Young, and Uri Fruchtmann - were Vinod’s investors.
The remaining two, Andrew Murray-Watson and April Srivikorn, were his employees.
The court began hearing the case in October last year, when one of the investors, Bell, testified on behalf of the plaintiffs.
Bell told the court that Vinod had portrayed himself as a trustworthy member of the community due to his connections with influential people, including Anwar.
He also testified that the plaintiffs lost their patience and filed the suit against Vinod and Yeap after the duo constantly failed to update them on their investment status.
However, during one proceeding, Bell agreed with Vinod’s lawyer, Rajan, that no evidence proved Vinod used Anwar’s name to solicit investment or money from him or the other plaintiffs. - Mkini
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