KUALA LUMPUR (May 31): Following the filing of 22 civil suits by 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) and its former subsidiary SRC International Sdn Bhd earlier this month before the lapse of its deadline, a lawyer has expressed concern that those cases may interfere with the ongoing criminal trials.
Mohd Haniff Khatri Abdulla told theedgemarkets.com that while the SRC trial involving former premier Datuk Seri Najib Razak had concluded and the appeal at the Court of Appeal has also finished, the same cannot be said of the 1MDB trial.
He said the 1MDB trial is still in its infancy with the 10th prosecution witness, and there is also a pending forfeiture of US$340 million against Saudi national Tarek Obaid and PetroSaudi Oil Services Ltd (Venezuela), and the criminal charges on Low Taek Jho, Tarek and PetroSaudi's Patrick Mahony.
“After the filing of the writ of summons, now which is of concern are the ongoing criminal prosecutions. The other is whether the investigation papers for these cases are used in the filing of the writ. The filing of such civil action in light of the criminal prosecutions is callous,” he said.
“The other question is whether the Attorney-General's Chambers was truly consulted before the filing of the writ,” he added.
It was previously reported on May 10 that 1MDB filed six suits against various individuals including the former premier, Jho Low, 1MDB office bearers then, Najib's step-son Riza Aziz and several foreign institutions.
SRC filed 16 separate suits including two on Najib, one against the then SRC office bearers and purported recipients of the funds which it claimed could be from the RM4 billion Retirement Fund Inc (KWAP) loan given to SRC.
The Finance Ministry in a statement that same day confirmed The Edge's report on the filing of the suit.
Throwing a spanner into the criminal case
Haniff noted that 1MDB's suit against its former law firm Wong & Partners and its partner Brian Chia Hock Gee is an example of his concern as it was revealed by senior Deputy Public Prosecutor and former Federal Court judge Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram that Chia will be one of the witnesses to be called by the prosecution.
Sri Ram also indicated he will also act for the law firm in the suit and said there is no conflict of interest.
At present, in the 1MDB trial, its former chief executive officer Mohd Hazem Abdul Rahman is on the witness stand and is undergoing cross-examination. Hazem is also a party in the suit by 1MDB for breach of fiduciaries duty.
Haniff also noted that the statement of claim (SoC) to the suits has yet to be filed, and questioned whether the information used in filing the SoC later can and will be used by the present defendants in the criminal trials to prejudice the prosecution case there.
“Those filing the civil suits must be candid as to where and how they get the information in resorting to the suits filed,” he said, adding the existing suits may throw a spanner into the ongoing criminal cases.
“The SoC will disclose the line of the case, which will give a big advantage to those whose criminal trial is still ongoing or yet to begin. Also, there is concern if the confidentiality and secrecy which insulate the criminal investigation papers may have been breached if 1MDB is relying on them.
“These concerns must be addressed and cleared right away. What the public want to see is justice by successful criminal charges against the culprit that ends in a conviction, rather than mere civil judgments for the company themselves,” he added.
Some of the civil suits filed had undergone their first case management with likely judges having been scheduled to hear them in the subsequent case management.