‘Equanimity’ now belongs to M’sia
Saturday, 20 Oct 2018
Yes, it’s ours: Sitpah talking to the media after the High Court decision was made at the Kuala Lumpur Court Complex.
KUALA LUMPUR: The government is now free to sell the billion ringgit superyacht Equanimity now that the court has declared that it belongs to Malaysia.
Lawyer Sitpah Selvaratnam said the High Court has declared the Malaysian government and 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) as the beneficiary owner.
The judgment came as its registered owner failed to be in court to claim the vessel.
Sitpah is leading the legal team for the government, 1MDB and two others which had applied for a judgment in default (JID) against the registered owner of Equanimity over the selling of the superyacht.
“Now, the vessel can be sold without any legal restrictions,” said Sitpah.
Besides 1MDB and the government, the other two plaintiffs are MDB Energy Holdings Limited and 1MDB Global Investment Limited, which are 1MDB subsidiaries.
On Oct 5, the same court had granted an application by the four plaintiffs to appoint a central broker and an international appraiser to handle the sale of the Equanimity, which purportedly belongs to fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho or Jho Low.
It followed a decision on Aug 24, by the same court in granting an application by the four plaintiffs to sell the superyacht.
In the application filed on Aug 23, the four plaintiffs named the owner of the ship, Equanimity of Cayman Islands, as the defendant in the suit filed via the law firm of Jeremy Joseph and Partners.
In the notice of application, the four plaintiffs asked for the sale of the ship, bunkers, fuel, lubricants and other consumables on board to be conducted via public tender or private treaty by the Admiralty Court sheriff.
The superyacht was brought to Port Klang on Aug 7 after the Indonesian authorities handed it over to Malaysia and it was seized off Bali in February at the request of the US authorities as part of the corruption investigation launched by the US Department of Justice (DoJ) into 1MDB. — Bernama
Read more at https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2018/10/20/equanimity-now-belongs-to-msia-court-govt-beneficiary-owner-since-registered-owner-failed-to-claim-s/#dT0mSjhLOlFIlFkb.99
