KUALA LUMPUR (June 26): Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor has applied to recuse the High Court judge presiding over the 1Malaysia Development Bhd’s (1MDB) US$350 million (RM1.6 billion) lawsuit against her.
Rosmah filed the application on the grounds of High Court judge Adlin Abdul Majid’s previous employment with Messrs Lee Hishammuddin Allen & Gledhill, a law firm that Rosmah said has been involved in 1MDB’s asset recovery since 2018.
The court was already informed of the intention to file this application previously during proceedings in mid-June, and the hearing has been set for Aug 26.
Rosmah’s counsels — Tan Sri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah and Reza Rahim — have also indicated that they are considering filing an application to strike out the entire suit which revolves around nearly 12,000 luxury items that 1MDB claims were purchased through misappropriation of its funds.
In her formal application filed on Tuesday (June 25), Rosmah contended that there was a “real danger of bias”, should Adlin continue to preside over the matter, given that 1MDB was a client of her previous employer, while she was still a partner at the firm.
Adlin was a partner with the firm from 2011 till 2021, after which she entered the judiciary.
“Lee Hishamuddin was appointed as early as 2018 to represent the plaintiff in matters related to recovering 1MDB assets; In fact, the media at the time reported that ‘that the law firm had previously received instructions to act for 1MDB in certain related proceedings’,” Rosmah said.
A total of 11 plaintiffs, including SRC International Sdn Bhd, filed the civil action, claiming that monies from the companies were channelled to various offshore entities, and later paid to 48 vendors in 14 jurisdictions for the luxury goods. They claim that there were a total of 320 such payments.
The companies also claim that they have equitable proprietary interest in the luxury goods.
Rosmah is being sued, along with Shabnam Naraindas Daswani (also known as Natasha Mirpuri), whom the plaintiff claims purchased or procured some of the luxury goods for Rosmah.
They are asking Rosmah to return any of these items in her possession, and to pay a sum of about US$350 million or an amount to be assessed by the court. They also want Shabnam to pay them a sum to be determined by the court.
They are also seeking damages, or fair compensation to be determined by the court.