Frustrated at a concerted attempt to keep the US$250 million (RM1 billion) superyacht Equanimity from US jurisdiction, the Department of Justice has applied to be the custodian of the vessel.
According to the DOJ’s filing yesterday at the California Central District Court, sighted by Malaysiakini, it said the yacht owners had "kept the Equanimity in a series of foreign locations and frustrated the government's efforts to bring this asset to the US."
Even after the yacht was seized in Bali, the DOJ said the owners had filed a lawsuit in Indonesian courts to stymie the seizure.
"Accordingly, the government respectfully moves the court to appoint the government as custodian of the Equanimity and order claimants to tender the Equanimity into the government’s custody, so that the Equanimity can be brought to the US and made available for forfeiture," it said.
The DOJ, in the filing, noted that Malaysian businessperson Low Taek Jho "purchased the Equanimity with funds stolen and embezzled from 1MDB" and that Low was "a central player in orchestrating the theft of billions of dollars from 1MDB."
Low (photo) is fighting the forfeiture through Equanimity (Cayman) Ltd, Equanimity Crew (Cayman) Ltd, Equanimity Lifestyle (Cayman) Ltd and Equanimity Operations and Maintenance (Cayman) Ltd, referred to as the claimants in the filing.
The DOJ said the claimants had gone to "extraordinary lengths" to keep the Equanimityaway from the US government.
This includes turning off the automatic identification system (AIS) tracking system to make it more difficult to detect and avoiding countries such as Australia and Singapore that are friendly to the US.
"All these machinations have obstructed the court’s arrest warrant in rem and frustrated the very purpose of this forfeiture suit.
"After all, the arrest warrant commands US authorities to seize the yacht – something that is proving impossible as long as claimants play their international game of keep-away," it said.
'Claimants can't be trusted to deliver yacht'
The DOJ said an alternative was for the court to order the claimants to deliver the Equanimity on their own to the US for forfeiture.
"But there is good reason to order claimants to tender the yacht to the government’s custody, rather than simply ordering claimants to bring the yacht to the US themselves.
"Claimants might not be trusted to bring the yacht into the US, even under court order.
"After all, they have already obstructed the court’s arrest warrant in rem. It is hardly far-fetched to think that they might also obstruct or defy an order to sail the yacht to the US," it said.
Furthermore, the filing said it will only take a day for the claimant to hand over the Equanimity to US authorities.
"By contrast, ordering claimants to sail the yacht to the US themselves would take many days, and the court would have limited ability to monitor claimants’ compliance when the yacht is in the open Pacific," it said.
The DOJ also stressed that its custody application would not interfere in the ongoing lawsuits in Indonesia, where the yacht is presently held.
"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 US, and the court need only order claimants not to further interfere with the transfer of custody to the US," it said.
The DOJ said it was important for the court to grant the custody application at this juncture as there is no certainty how the claimant's legal battle in Indonesia would go.
"History has shown that claimants are likely to continue their game of keep-away with the yacht if and when they regain control of it," it said.
The Equanimity was seized off Teluk Benoa, Bali by Indonesian and US authorities on Feb 28. However, Low was not on board the vessel.
The latest US filing came amid an attempt by Malaysia to introduce an Anti-Fake News Bill in Parliament which carries a punishment of up to 10 years imprisonment or RM500,000 fine.
Deputy Communications and Multimedia Minister Jailani Johari had told Parliament that any information and had not been verified about 1MDB, apart from what was in the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report, would be considered "fake news."
However, Communications and Multimedia Minister Salleh Said Keruak yesterday told a gathering of foreign correspondents that US DOJ filings on 1MDB would not be considered "fake news".
"You can quote them, what did they say, based on the filings. It is not considered fake news. It's their views. Like DOJ, you quote them, what they said," he stated. -Mkini
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