Claimants to the superyacht Equanimity had sought to halt the seizure of the vessel in Indonesian courts, US court filings reveal.
According to filings made by the US Department of Justice yesterday, the move was part of other efforts to prevent the Equanimity from being seized by US authorities.
“When the (US) government recently tracked the yacht to Indonesia and requested the Indonesian authorities to seize it on behalf of the United States, claimants filed an Indonesian lawsuit intended to stymie the Indonesian seizure…
“Taken together, claimants’ modus operandi is clear: they will do anything to keep the Equanimity out of the Government’s hands and outside of the United States,” read the DOJ filing at the California Central District Court, which were sighted by Malaysiakini.
An English translation of the petition to the South Jakarta District Court dated March 20 was including with the DOJ submissions.
The petition on behalf of the company Equanimity (Cayman) Ltd, which is the registered owner of the vessel, urged the South Jakarta court to declare the seizure of the Equanimity invalid, and to void the seizure warrant.
They also want the court to order the return of the vessel to Equanimity Ltd, and to impose costs on the Indonesian government.
Among others, they argued that the seizure did not fulfil the requirements stipulated by Indonesia’s mutual legal assistance laws, which is supposed to deal with criminal matters and not civil cases.
They also argued that the Equanimity could not be classified as a “proceed of crime” under Indonesia’s anti-money laundering laws, because it was seized as part of a civil forfeiture suit, which is not a criminal proceeding.
The DOJ had filed for the civil forfeiture of the Equanimity and several other properties in June last year, alleging that there were the proceeds of misappropriation of 1MDB funds that had been laundered through the US financial system.
It claims that Equanimity Ltd – and by extension the US$250 million superyacht itself – are beneficially owned by the Penang-born tycoon Low Taek Jho.
On Feb 28, the Indonesia national police accompanied by US Federal Bureau of Investigation special agents seized the Equanimity in Teluk Benoa, Bali.
According to an earlier filing by the FBI, the FBI served the US arrest warrant against the vessel at about 6.30pm on March 9 by “(boarding) the Equanimity and immediately went to the bridge where the warrant of arrest in rem was taped on to a table.”
The vessel has since remained in Teluk Benoa since, under the protection of the Indonesian police.
Won't stop protective custody
Meanwhile, in its filing yesterday, the DOJ argued that the pending Indonesian lawsuit would not stop the DOJ from taking protective custody of the vessel and sailing it to the US where it will be sold.
It said a protective custody order could be drafted, such that it would not interfere with the lawsuit in Indonesia.
“For example, this court could order that claimants are required to tender custody of the yacht to the US government only if and when claimants regain control of the yacht by winning the Indonesian suit.
“Conversely, if claimants lose the Indonesian suit and control of the yacht remains with Indonesia, then Indonesia is expected to make good on its public representations and tender custody of the yacht to the United States, and the court need only order claimants not to further interfere with the transfer of custody to the United States,” it said.
The claimants in the Equanimity civil forfeiture suit are: Equanimity (Cayman) Ltd, Equanimity Crew (Cayman) Ltd, Equanimity Lifestyle (Cayman) Ltd, and Equanimity Operations and Maintenance (Cayman) Ltd.
For the record, Low has denied any wrongdoing, while 1MDB insists that all its money is accounted for.
In particular, Low claimed that the allegations against him are politically motivated and the seizure perpetuates DOJ’s “pattern of global overreach.” -Mkini
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