GOVERNMENT PLANS TO SELL EQUANIMITY

It will dock at the port at 11am

LUXURY yacht Equanimity, linked to businessman Low Taek Jho, is on its way from Indonesia to Port Klang. The vessel, which is being escorted by Malaysian police, is expected to dock in Port Klang at 11am today.

It is learnt that several senior officers from the Marine Police are also on the vessel after it was handed over by Indonesian authorities in waters off the Singapore Straits.

Sources said the vessel, which had been linked to the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) issue, was also being escorted by three Marine Police patrol boats to Port Klang.

The Indonesian government handed over the yacht to the Malaysian authorities following a request by Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad during his visit to the republic in June.

Dr Mahathir, in a statement via his Facebook account yesterday, thanked his Indonesian counterpart Joko Widodo and the Indonesian authorities for their help.

“I wish to thank Indonesia for their close cooperation with Malaysia and for resolving one of our problems.

“We believe that this vessel is owned by Malaysia as it was bought by certain quarters using stolen Malaysian funds.

“If anyone wishes to claim that the yacht is theirs, they are free to provide evidence stating thus.

“We (the government) would like to know how they received that much money to buy such an expensive vessel,” he said via a video posting.

He said if the owner could prove that the vessel was purchased using his money, the government would then return the yacht to the rightful owner.

He said based on reports and preliminary investigations by the United States’ Department of Justice (DoJ), the yacht was bought using funds stolen from 1MDB.

“I am truly grateful to the Indonesian government and President Jokowi for solving a problem faced by Malaysia,” he said.

The vessel was seized by Indonesian authorities in February following a request by DoJ to facilitate a probe into the scandal surrounding 1MDB.

However, in April, the Indonesian courts ruled that the seizure was unlawful, and that the vessel should be returned to its owner, Low.

The yacht was once again seized in July following another official request from the US government.