KUALA LUMPUR (April 8): Lawyers representing 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) have asked the High Court for a protective order to block former 1MDB president and chief executive officer Arul Kanda Kandasamy from accessing statements of accounts showing monies recovered by 1MDB, the Ministry of Finance and the Malaysian government from various settlement deals and legal actions.

In 1MDB’s US$6.59 billion civil suit against him and ex-Treasury secretary general Tan Sri Dr Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah, 1MDB’s lawyers from Lim Chee Wee partnership (LCW) had filed the protective order to deny Arul Kanda’s request for access to the statement of accounts.

High Court Judge Datuk Raja Ahmad Mohzanuddin Shah Raja Mohzan heard arguments from 1MDB lawyer Raphael Kok from LCW, and Sanjay Mohan from Christoper Lee Ong representing Arul Kanda and Lavinia Kumaraendran representing Irwan.

The protective order application hearing was held in the judge’s chambers, away from the public and the media, late Tuesday evening (April 7).

Lawyers confirmed to The Edge that Raja Ahmad has set May 6 to deliver his decision on the matter.

Arul Kanda, through his lawyers, requested these documents in August last year. They said the 2019 and 2024 settlement deals between the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and fugitive Low Taek Jho (Jho Low), along with records of money recovered by the Malaysian government, are important for his case.

Last year,  Arul Kanda had filed an application for discovery of documents. Among the documents sought are:

The discovery application was supported by Irwan. Both defendants argued that the documents sought were relevant and important to prove one of the defences of their case being double recovery.

However, Raja Ahmad only partially allowed Arul Kanda’s discovery application, allowing him to only request 1MDB’s statement of account as at November 2025, which details funds recovered through global asset recovery efforts. It ruled that such financial records are relevant to assessing the extent of loss and potential over-recovery, and are likely within 1MDB’s control as the ultimate beneficiary of recovered assets.

Rejecting arguments that the information is protected under the Official Secrets Act or that disclosure would harm public interest, the judge ordered that the document be produced to him for inspection and determination. 

After disclosing the summary statement of accounts to the defendants, 1MDB now argues in its protective order application that third parties in this case can be prevented from viewing the statements, and that any reference to the amounts recovered ought to be redacted from the Courts efiling system.

In Arul Kanda’s discovery application for the documents last year, he had stated in court documents that 1MDB and the Malaysian government have already recovered the sums in dispute, and accused them of pursuing a “double claim” by continuing the action against him.

“The documents will show that despite knowing of the settlement between the US DOJ and Jho Low in 2019, the plaintiff pursued this claim against me in 2021 for the same funds that were recovered by the US DOJ,” he said.

Arul Kanda annexed to his affidavit DOJ press statements dated October 2019 and June 2024, as well as a June 2024 report by Channel News Asia. He also referenced articles in The Straits Times (Aug 14, 2025) and Reuters (Aug 23, 2023), which reported on Malaysia’s asset recovery efforts.

He argued that the plaintiff is privy to these agreements and recovery details, and therefore must disclose them.

Read also:
1MDB claims it has no access to US DOJ settlement documents, says they are under OSA
High Court concludes 43-day hearing of 1MDB suit against Irwan and Arul Kanda, final submissions set for February
Ex-1MDB CEO Arul Kanda seeks DOJ settlement papers with Jho Low to support double recovery claim