KUALA LUMPUR (March 28): Lawyers appearing for fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho, better known as Jho Low, and his father Tan Sri Larry Low Hock Peng had on Monday (March 28) filed an application to set aside the ex-parte Mareva injunction imposed on them by the High Court on March 16, which bars them from removing or disposing of US$1.432 billion worth of assets that allegedly belong to 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) and its subsidiaries.
The lawyers from Messrs Valen & Oh and Partners representing the pair had informed 1MDB's lawyers from Messrs Skrine of their intention.
Counsel M Puravalen for Jho Low and Hock Peng, when contacted by theedgemarkets.com, confirmed that the documents had been served on Skrine this afternoon.
The application to set aside the Mareva injunction sighted by theedgemarkets.com following a file search revealed that Jho Low and Hock Peng argued that 1MDB and its subsidiaries failed to present an arguable case, disclose material and pertinent facts, and the claim of dissipation amounts to unsupported speculation, and is filed in mala fide (bad intention) and is an abuse of the court process.
An affidavit in reply to the Mareva injunction was affirmed by US lawyer Robin Rathmell of Kobre and Kim LLP, who is also representing the father-son duo. The counsel had denied each and every paragraph of 1MDB's affidavit in support of the Mareva injunction application.
Hearing scheduled for Tuesday
Tuesday (March 29) has been fixed for an inter-partes hearing of the Mareva injunction before Justice Hayatul Akmal Abdul Aziz in the afternoon.
When the Mareva injunction was given, it was given following an ex-parte or a single party application in court proceedings, while inter-partes hearing would see both sides' matters be heard.
On March 15, 1MDB and its four subsidiaries 1MDB Energy Holdings Ltd, 1MDB Energy Ltd, Global Diversified Investment Co Ltd (previously known as 1MDB Global Investments Ltd) and 1MDB Energy (Langat) Ltd obtained the Mareva injunction.
The companies sought to prohibit a sum of US$1.0305 billion from being transferred by Jho Low and to bar another sum of US$401.5 million from being transferred by Hock Peng or by their agents or nominees of assets held in Malaysia and anywhere in the world.
In addition, the duo were required by Justice Hayatul Akmal to also disclose to the court and 1MDB's solicitors their current residential addresses, precise whereabouts, email addresses and their contact details in writing through an affidavit.
Besides this, Jho Low and Hock Peng are required by the High Court to furnish by March 30 the details of the assets of the said amount of US$1.0305 billion and US$401.5 million respectively to the court, whether they are held locally or abroad.
Besides this, both Jho Low and Hock Peng are only allowed to withdraw RM20,000 per month from their accounts for their expenses.
In its application, 1MDB and its subsidiaries claim the sum was traceable to both Jho Low and his father, who are alleged to have knowingly received, or been involved in fraudulent misappropriation, unjust enrichment, constructive trust and conspiracy of the companies' assets.
“Based on the complicated, sophisticated (intricate) and illegal transactions that Jho Low and Hock Peng had jointly participated in to achieve their deceptive intentions of hiding the assets, this court should hence prevent them from disposing of and concealing their current assets globally.
“Furthermore, given the global scale of fraud and dishonesty performed by Jho Low and his father where their whereabouts are unknown, and information is limited on assets belonging to Hock Peng in Malaysia, which may not be sufficient to satisfy the judgment against him, and the assets [held by] Jho Low [are] also unknown, there is an urgent need to prevent them from taking action to dispose [of] the assets through the Mareva injunction,” the fund said in the ex-parte application.
Jho Low and Hock Peng are among the five people named in the 1MDB and the four subsidiaries suit, with the others being Jho Low's mother Puan Sri Goh Gaik Ewe, his siblings May Lin and Taek Szen, along with his associate Eric Tan Kim Loong.
They are seeking US$3.5 million allegedly received by May Lin and US$27.5 million allegedly received by Taek Szen, in addition to US$1.695 million worth of jewellery from Goh in the legal action.