A PKR lawmaker will file an urgent motion in Parliament today to discuss attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali's refusal to claim businessperson Low Taek Jho's (Jho Low) luxury yacht Equanimity, which was seized by Indonesian authorities recently.
Alor Setar MP Gooi Hsiao Leung said Apandi's remark yesterday that the government will not lay claim to the vessel, was "totally unacceptable and tantamount to a blatant disregard of his public duty as the attorney-general."
"I remind the attorney-general that he has a constitutional duty to safeguard public interest, and as the highest officer of the law, it is his job to recover the Equanimity, which was purchased using 1MDB's stolen funds, belonging to the people of Malaysia," Gooi told Malaysiakini.
The US$250 million (RM1 billion) superyacht was seized by the Indonesian police, in collaboration with the United States' Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), in Bali, on Wednesday.
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) had in its previous civil suits seeking to recover funds allegedly laundered through 1MDB, said that the vessel was bought with funds purportedly stolen from the sovereign fund.
When asked to comment on the matter, Apandi had said the government would not claim the vessel as it "does not belong to them", while government minister Salleh Said Keruak had dubbed news reports about the seizure, "fake news."
Gooi reminded the Communications and Multimedia Minister of US attorney-general Jeff Session's (in photo) scathing description of the 1MDB scandal as "kleptocracy at its worst".
"Despite the disclosure by DOJ and Sessions' remark, it is utterly shameful for Apandi to provide such a lame and frivolous explanation, that the yacht does not belong to our government.
"In light of Apandi's disgraceful response and gross dereliction of his public duty, it is of utmost importance and urgency for the prime minister to inform Parliament, as to what specific directions he will give to the AG to immediately lodge a formal claim for Equanimity," said Gooi.
He added that Najib must also inform Parliament about how the government intends to recover all other 1MDB-linked proceeds and assets seized by foreign governments.
Low, had through a spokesperson following the seizure, dubbed it as "politically motivated" and a "global overreach" by the US DOJ. -Mkini
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