Yacht not seized illegally: AG 300FT OF LUXURY
> The High Court’s admiralty jurisdiction was invoked
PETALING JAYA: The question of super yacht Equanimity being seized illegally by Malaysia does not arise, says Attorney-General (AG) Tommy Thomas (pix).
He said the AttorneyGeneral’s Chambers (AGC) had invoked the admiralty jurisdiction of the High Court in Kuala Lumpur against the yacht, and on Monday, the court had issued a warrant of arrest for it.
(Admiralty jurisdiction refers to all maritime-related disputes.)
“Accordingly, the Equanimity is properly seized under the laws of Malaysia,” he said.
Thomas thanked the US and Indonesian governments for cooperating and collaborating with Malaysia on the seizure.
“As a result of the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties (MLAs) between Indonesia, the United States and Malaysia which were activated recently, sensitive and delicate negotiations were conducted at the highest levels of different agencies in the three countries to accomplish this feat. Among our agencies involved in this operation were the Royal Malaysian Police, the Royal Malaysian Navy, the MACC and AGC,” he added.
The seizure was done on the initiative of the US Department of Justice (DoJ), which asserted ownership of the yacht on behalf of Malaysia and 1MDB because monies belonging Malaysia were used to purchase it.
The yacht was seized by the Indonesian authorities in Bali on Feb 28 on the application of the DoJ.
Equanimity is said to have been bought with money belonging to 1MDB.
The DoJ seeks to suspend its legal proceedings in US courts to give the opportunity to Malaysia to deal with the yacht.
DoJ had filed a civil forfeiture suit to seize the vessel on July 15 last year, claiming that it was bought using the proceeds of misappropriation from 1MDB that had been channelled through the US financial system.
“The government proposes that all proceedings in this action be suspended in order to give the government and any interested claimant the opportunity to inquire of Malaysia through formal channels what its intentions are with respect to the defendant yacht,” the DoJ said in a notice filed at the California Central District Court this morning (about 12.45pm yesterday, California time).
The DoJ has a protective custody obtained from the California court to bring back the yacht to US shores to facilitate an interlocutory sale of the yacht.
Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng had told the media that the government planned to take inventory of the items on the yacht and open the vessel for public viewing, before eventually selling it “at the highest price”.
Meanwhile, lawyers representing the Malaysia government, 1MDB and its two subsidiaries served a warrant of arrest against the super yacht.
Speaking to reporters in Port Klang, one of the lawyers Sitpah Selvaratnam said the warrant was served to the vessel after 1MDB Group of Companies had claimed ownership over the vessel.
“They had claimed ownership because they believe their money had been misappropriated and used to purchase the vessel.
“The claim is based on allegations filed by the DoJ in the US in June last year.”