Maybank's representative was at the Kuala Lumpur High Court today to stake the bank's claim on nine bank accounts containing a total of RM1.99 million.
The accounts had been seized from Goldman Sachs banker Roger Ng, his wife Lim Hwee Bin, Jho Low's associate Kee Kok Thiam and Rembulan Kembara Sdn Bhd, and is now subject to forfeiture proceedings at the court.
During case management for 1MDB-related suit against 18 parties this morning, a Maybank representative sought the court's clarification whether it could claim the money in the nine accounts.
The money would be used to service loans taken out by the respondents from Maybank.
Based on submissions by lawyer Muhamad Al Muazzim Azmi Amin, it is understood that Ng, Lim, Kee, and Rembulan Kembara still have outstanding loans with Maybank.
The loans include hire-purchase financing that the bank had provided to the respondents.
"We want to get clarification whether (the bank) as a third party is entitled to deduct amounts from the bank accounts for hire purchase," Muazzim said when asked by Justice Mohamed Zaini Mazlan on Maybank's interest in the matter.
According to the suit filed by the Attorney-General's Chambers in May, the prosecution is seeking to forfeit properties and valuables that authorities seized from 18 respondents related to 1MDB investigation, which also include former premier Najib Abdul Razak, his wife Rosmah Mansor and their children Nooryana Najwa, Nor Ashman, and Najib's stepson Riza Aziz.
Among the items seized by the authorities include nine Maybank accounts that belonged to Ng, Lim, Kee, and Rembulan Kembara.
It is understood that Rembulan Kembara is a company that was once related to Jho Low's father Larry Low Hock Peng, who used to be one of its directors until his resignation in July last year.
Another respondent in the forfeiture suit, Tan Vern Tact, was a director of the company until his resignation in Dec 2017.
According to court documents, the Attorney-General's Chambers is seeking to forfeit a total of RM237,264.38 from Roger Ng's (photo, above) four Maybank accounts, RM1.29 million from three Maybank accounts under Kee's name, and RM429,234.14 from one account belonging to Lim.
For Kembara Rembulan, the AGC is seeking to forfeit RM35,510.46 from its account with the bank.
The Maybank lawyer did not specify the amount being sought during today's proceedings.
After hearing from the lawyer, judge Zaini then ordered for the bank to file an affidavit to claim their rights in the matter and serve the affidavit to all respondents.
The judge also told Maybank to file a formal application, should it wants to enter as a third-party claimant in the suit.
Court to hear motion to inspect seized properties on Oct 14
During the same session, Zaini also set Oct 14 to hear motions filed by Najib, Rosmah, and Nooryana seeking a detailed inventory of items seized from them by the police last year.
The court heard from lawyer Farhan Shafee, who represented Najib in the matter, that while the AGC had agreed to provide colour photographs of the items, his client still wants to inspect the items physically.
Zaini then told the court that he would first preside over a hearing on the motions on Oct 14, before starting a hearing on the main suit.
The court set Nov 15 for case management for the suit. - Mkini
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