KUALA LUMPUR (March 20): Umno Supreme Council member Datuk Seri Lokman Noor Adam on Thursday issued an apology to 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) lead counsel Rosli Dahlan and his firm, RDS Partnership, for defaming them by falsely claiming they profited from the Malaysian government’s 1MDB asset recovery effort.

On Thursday, the High Court recorded a consent judgement in a defamation suit filed by senior lawyer Rosli against Lokman. Lokman had alleged that Rosli and his law firm unlawfully profited RM1.7 billion in legal fees from the RM17 billion Goldman Sachs settlement in the 1MDB case.

This follows Lokman’s public apology before judge Mahazan Mat Taib, where he read a statement of regret and committed to publishing it across all his media accounts by Friday, March 21.

Thursday was initially fixed as the first day of trial in the defamation suit filed in 2021.

Besides agreeing to publish the apology, Lokman will also pay an undisclosed cost to Rosli.

In open court, Lokman admitted to publishing three videos containing false allegations that defamed Rosli. He also acknowledged that the lawyer’s actions in the recovery exercise were, in fact, beneficial to 1MDB and Malaysia.

“My false and defamatory videos have gone viral and taken a life of [their] own and have resulted in similar defamatory statements being made by various other parties across different channels and platforms,” he said.

He noted that non-governmental organisation (NGO) Center to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4) and Sinar Harian, along with Universiti Teknologi Malaysia's Dr Mazlan Ali, had apologised to Rosli on March 21, 2021 and Oct 20, 2023.

Lokman admitted in court to making false and defamatory statements about Rosli, and that the lawyer had never claimed or received any commission or 10% of the 1MDB asset recovery value. He clarified that the legal fees for Rosli's firm, RDS Partnership, were based on pre-agreed time costs, similar to other lawyers representing 1MDB, and not on any commission or percentage of recovered assets.

He also acknowledged that Rosli’s firm did not receive RM1.7 billion from the Goldman Sachs settlement or RM283 million from AmBank as settlement, and admitted that these allegations were false and defamatory.

The politician further agreed that it was impossible for Rosli or the firm to receive any proceeds from the recovery of 1MDB’s assets as all proceeds from the recovery were paid directly to the Accountant General’s Department of Malaysia, and not to him or his firm.

“With deep remorse, I hereby express my sincere apologies as my false and defamatory statements which had tarnished the character, integrity and reputation of Rosli, subjecting him to public ridicule in the Malaysian community and diminishing his standing among the public. His sincere contributions to the country should be valued and he should not be subjected to political attacks.

“Rosli is a highly professional and ethical lawyer known for his courage in handling public interest cases, is a righteous, honest, trustworthy, highly respected individual with immaculate integrity. He has never been a crony of anyone and opposes corruption,” Lokman said in his statement.

Rosli, who was present, accepted the apology in the spirit of Ramadan and thanked all parties.

Mahazan, in recording the consent judgement, thanked both parties for resolving the dispute amicably and avoiding a trial, which could have been akin to airing their grievances in public.

She also thanked parties for the settlement as it created a peaceful and harmonious situation.

“Let this be a lesson to all in our sayings or actions as any words or action could result in libel although that may not be the intention. In the world that is nearing its end, there is a lot of libel and sometimes what is considered not defamatory by one, is seen as defamatory to others.

“The court is certain that the clear and detailed regret uttered by the defendant is sincere, and the court hopes that this settlement and apology is not only highlighted in the defendant’s social media account but also the mainstream media as social media could be limited to views by the followers,” she said.

Rosli filed the defamation suit against Lokman in April 2021, after he implied, among others, that Rosli and his firm profited from the 1MDB settlement with Goldman Sachs and AmBank.

Counsel Datuk Hariharan Tara Singh appeared for Lokman while Amiratu Al Amirat Saleh Garbaa appeared for Rosli.

Read also:
1MDB lawyer Rosli Dahlan files RM50m defamation suit against Lokman Adam
C4 Center apologises to lawyer Rosli Dahlan for defamatory online posts