KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 8): The High Court (commercial division) has rescheduled to May 26 the hearing of Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s application to set aside the first ex-parte (one-sided) Mareva injunction imposed on him by 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) last year, which prevents the former premier from disposing or causing to reduce the value of any of his assets with a total value of US$681 million.

The court also fixed the same date for the inter-partes hearing of the Mareva injunction.

The rescheduling of the hearing follows Najib and his counsel Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah being currently engaged in the 1MDB-Tanore trial at the High Court (criminal division) before judge Datuk Collin Lawrence Sequerah.

Originally, the hearing of both applications was fixed for Tuesday (Feb 7) before judge Atan Mustaffa Yussof Ahmad, but it was instead transformed into case management.

Although Atan Mustaffa had last November dismissed Najib’s application to attend the hearing of the inter-partes Mareva injunction and his application to set aside the injunction, Tuesday’s hearing date was nevertheless vacated.

Hence, the court rescheduled the hearing to May 26.

Najib is currently serving his 12-year jail sentence after the Federal Court on Aug 23 last year affirmed his guilty verdict with regard to SRC International Sdn Bhd. He had also been sentenced to a RM210 million fine.

A source familiar with the matter confirmed the new hearing date with The Edge.

1MDB, along with Global Diversified Investment Company Ltd (a subsidiary previously known as 1MDB Global Investment Ltd or 1MDBGIL) had a year ago on Feb 8, 2022, obtained an ex-parte Mareva injunction against Najib to prevent the dissipation of a sum of US$681 million, which he purportedly had received from the company and the subsidiary.

The Mareva injunction is a court order that effectively freezes the assets of the person when a legal action is currently being heard in court. It is to prevent the transfer of assets that may include money held in banks or financial institutions.

The imposition of the injunction, however, allowed the former prime minister to withdraw RM100,000 monthly to meet his expenses.

Najib had applied to set aside the ex-parte Mareva injunction last Feb 18, citing that he does not have the amount and that US$620 million had been returned to the donor.

1MDB, along with 1MDB Energy Ltd, 1MDB Energy (Langat) Ltd, 1MDBGIL, and 1MDB Energy Holdings Ltd, had filed a US$8 billion suit, wherein besides naming Najib, it had named 14 other former directors and 1MDB former office bearers in the suit.

In its statement of claim filed in May 2021, it alleged that the defendants, including Najib as the former chairman of the board of advisers, had facilitated the companies to enter into sham agreements to create a circuitous trail of money to ease or conceal the misappropriation of 1MDB funds.

The companies further contended that Najib disregarded his obligations under Article 117 of the Memorandum of Articles of Association and abused his powers in exercising his public functions to maliciously commit fraud and misappropriation, resulting in the fraudulent transfer of funds and losses to them.

They contend that Najib should have foreseen the losses incurred due to such acts of misappropriation during each of the phases — losses that every Malaysian now has to bear.

They also claim that Najib abused his position in causing further losses and therefore, they are entitled to aggravated and exemplary damages because of his actions in obstructing and hindering investigations into the wrongdoing, whereby he obtained secret profits for himself or his agents.

They further allege that Najib had taken advantage of his position and power to influence, facilitate and cause fraud, so that the management complied with his stated intentions that ran contrary to 1MDB’s corporate objectives, national interests, and the interests of Minister of Finance Inc — to benefit his stepson Riza Aziz, businessman Low Taek Jho (Jho Low) and others.

Last March, the High Court (civil division) had imposed a second Mareva injunction on Najib, barring him from disposing of, dealing with, or diminishing the value of any of his assets inside and outside of Malaysia, of up to RM42 million, pending the final determination of the suit filed by SRC International on him.

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Najib seeks to set aside court injunction freezing US$681m worth of assets linked to 1MDB .