The High Court in Kuala Lumpur today dismissed former Senator Ezam Mohd Noor's application to adduce documents and judgment from Singapore courts in relation to his US$3.66 billion suit against Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, the 1MDB, its present and former directors and the government.
Justice Nik Hasmat Nik Mohamad made the decision after hearing the objections by Najib and the others that Ezam's application was filed out of time.
Ezam, who was informed by his lawyer Farez Jinnah on this, said he was appalled by the court's decision and has given his instruction to appeal against the decision.
The former PKR Youth chief also told reporters that he would go to the ground and reveal the documents.
“They are public documents from the Singapore criminal proceedings which mentioned about 1MDB and Jho Low (Low Taek Jho). The public has the right to know about this.
“My counsel Gopal Sri Ram also agreed that I should file an appeal. Najib's objection to my application is a conspiracy to conceal it. Hence, I will go to the ground to reveal it as it is also public court documents,” said the ex-Umno member.
Ezam explained that the court should have accepted the reason for the late filing because the documents were just obtained then.
Najib's lawyer Mohd Hafarizam Harun (photo), who was in the judge's chambers along with Farez and other lawyers representing the 1MDB and government, said the court dismissed Ezam's application to enter an additional affidavit as the court had already fixed the date to file the affidavit which must be followed.
“Furthermore, the court did not find any concrete reasons as to why the affidavit was filed late. The court also felt that all facts are there. Hence, the application by Ezam to admit the additional affidavit filed out of time was dismissed,” he said.
Justice Nik Hasmat fixed next Monday morning for case management to set a hearing date for the defendants' applications to strike out the suit.
The Singapore court documents cited were related to the criminal proceedings against Yeo Jiawei in July last year, and the documents were only obtained by Ezam in November.
Justice Nik Hasmat stipulated that all documents and affidavits related to the case must be filed in October.
Yeo, 34, is currently serving a 54-month jail term for money laundering and cheating over charges linked to 1MDB. He is also facing a separate imprisonment of 30 months for tampering with witnesses.
Eza, in filing the suit, claimed that Najib and the nine former 1MDB directors had breached their fiduciary duties, accusing them of intentionally causing “wrongful losses” of US$3.66 billion for 1MDB.
The US$3.66 billion total sum claimed by Ezam came from US$1.03 billion transferred to Good Star Ltd and used for a joint venture with PetroSaudi International Ltd, a US$1.367 billion paid to Aabar BVI and a US$1.26 billion paid to Tanore Finance Corporation (TFC).
He said he filed the suit in his personal capacity as a taxpayer and to represent all Malaysians, and pledged to return the damages back to the 1MDB and the government, should the court rule in his favour.- Mkini
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