Court orders prosecution to name office bearer in 1MDB suit against Johor Bahru BN
The High Court in Kuala Lumpur today ordered the prosecution to amend its 1MDB forfeiture suit against Johor Bahru BN and include the name of the political organisation's office-bearer.
Judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali allowed the application by MACC deputy public prosecutor Allan Suman Pillai to amend the suit's notice of motion during the proceedings...
The High Court in Kuala Lumpur today ordered the prosecution to amend its 1MDB forfeiture suit against Johor Bahru BN and include the name of the political organisation's office-bearer.
Judge Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali allowed the application by MACC deputy public prosecutor Allan Suman Pillai to amend the suit's notice of motion during the proceedings.
This was despite an initial objection by Johor Bahru BN’s counsel Syahrul Syazwan Salehin against the application.
Pillai made the application to amend the cause papers in line with the requirements of Section 9(c) of the Societies Act 1966, which states that a society may sue or be sued in the name of its registered public officer or office bearer.
Previously, in a separate 1MDB forfeiture suit against Pekan Umno on Aug 30, Nazlan ordered the prosecution to amend its notice of motion to include the name of the respondent’s office-bearers.
This included the former prime minister and Umno Pekan MP, Najib Abdul Razak.
On that day, Nazlan had also dismissed Pekan Umno’s application to strike out the suit against it on grounds that the legal action initially failed to name its office bearers in the cause papers.
“Today is set for the hearing of third parties (that may wish to stake a claim in the monies sought to be forfeited in the suit against Johor Bahru BN) and I find no third parties present.
“To comply with this previous court’s ruling (on Aug 30) that office bearers be inserted into our application (forfeiture suit against Pekan Umno), we apply to insert the office bearers (in the notice of motion for the forfeiture suit against Johor Bahru BN,” Pillai (below) said.
On July 19, the court had allowed the prosecution to gazette, today, the notice for any third party with an interest in the matter to come to court and stake their claim in the RM677,872.55 in funds that the suit seeks to seize from Johor Bahru BN.
The notice was gazetted under Section 61(2) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism and Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001.
However, Syahrul then raised the objection, telling the court that his client wished to have a look at the amendment application’s cause papers first before any ruling on it could be made.
“Let this court record the objection from the respondent. Until the amendment application is made, the respondent then can file an official application to look through and respond to the (amendment) application, if there is a need for objection (against the amendment application),” Syahrul said.
“If any public officer is to be named (in the suit), I need further instructions from Central BN (BN Pusat),” he added.
Pillai disagreed, telling the court that the objection can be raised later, during the substantive hearing of the main suit.
Justice Nazlan then informed Syahrul that Johor Bahru BN can raise the objection during the substantive hearing of the main legal action.
The judge then set Oct 18 for mention to update the court on the prosecution’s amendment of the cause papers, in compliance with Section 9(c) of the Act.
Johor Bahru BN is among 41 individuals and groups from whom the MACC is seeking to forfeit assets worth a total of RM270 million.
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