PETALING JAYA: The High Court in Kuala Lumpur has rejected 1MDB’s bid to transfer its lawsuit against film producer Riza Aziz and his production companies to another High Court.
1MDB had made an application to transfer its civil suit against the defendants to another court, where another 1MDB-related claim involving former prime minister Najib Razak is being heard before Justice Atan Mustaffa Yussof Ahmad.
Riza’s lawyers, Farhan Shafee and Genevieve Vanniasingham, said the decision today was made by Judicial Commissioner Raja Ahmad Mohzanuddin Shah Raja Mohzan.
According to the lawyers, the application was rejected on jurisdictional grounds.
“This decision means the trial concerning Riza will continue under the management of Raja Ahmad Mohzanuddin, with proceedings scheduled to commence in October,” they said in a statement.
1MDB was represented by counsel Rabindra S Nathan and Lim Jun Rui.
Last year, the High Court set Oct 16 to Nov 4, 2024, to hear 1MDB’s lawsuit against Riza and his production companies in a bid to recover about US$250 million (RM1.1 billion) from them.
Riza is Najib’s stepson.
The suit was brought by 1MDB and its subsidiaries against Riza and his production companies, including Red Granite.
Riza and his production companies were alleged to have wrongfully received and misused the money for their personal benefit, including to fund movie productions and purchase real estate.
1MDB also contended that Riza, as the companies’ owner, knew that the money had been misappropriated.
In his defence, Riza, who produced the hit movie “Wolf of Wall Street” starring Leonardo DiCaprio, claimed the funds were a loan from the Saudi royal family or International Petroleum Investment Company, and not from 1MDB.
He also said it was hard for an unknown film producer to obtain loans from banks, which compelled him to seek funds from individuals and companies. - FMT
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