KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court here on Monday (July 23) was informed that former 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) CEO Arul Kanda Kandasamy and former chairman Tan Sri Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah cannot be held responsible for the company’s losses caused by others’ irregularities.
Arul Kanda’s lawyer, Sanjay Mohan, argued that the issue of 1MDB’s financial losses was raised in 2014, a year before his client’s appointment in the company.
“The plaintiff (1MDB) made the allegation without any evidence. The investigation against 1MDB began on Feb 27, 2015, regarding its transactions between 2010 and 2014. My client was part of the new management. He was never implicated in any way,” he insisted.
Meanwhile, lawyer Lavinia Kumaraendran, representing Mohd Irwan, contended that the former Treasury secretary-general was appointed to the 1MDB board in 2016 and there was no direct evidence linking him to the alleged losses.
“The investments made in Brazen Sky Limited and the payments to Aabar Investments PJS Limited were clearly unsustainable, as the court has not yet determined that 1MDB incurred losses of US$1.83bil (RM8.05bil) and US$3.5bil (RM15.4bil),” she said, adding that the lawsuit against Mohd Irwan was premature.
The lawyers presented their arguments to dismiss a US$6.59bil lawsuit filed by 1MDB against Arul Kanda and Mohd Irwan before Judicial Commissioner (JC) Datuk Raja Ahmad Mohzanuddin Shah Raja Mohzan.
However, lawyer Brendan Siva, representing 1MDB, countered that the lawsuit should proceed to a full trial as it is 1MDB’s responsibility to investigate and question all parties involved to recover the missing funds.
Lawyer Datuk Lim Chee Wee, also representing 1MDB, stated that the lawsuit aims to establish what the defendants should have done and failed to do at that time.
“They failed to inquire, investigate, and recover the funds from 1MDB’s various failed investments,” said Lim.
After hearing submissions from all parties, JC Raja Ahmad scheduled the delivery of his decision for August 23.
In May 2021, 1MDB filed a lawsuit against the two individuals over allegations of breach of trust and conspiracy, resulting in 1MDB incurring losses of US$1.83bil related to its investment in 1MDB-Petrosaudi Ltd, which was converted into the alleged Brazen Sky Limited investment found in the Bridge Global Fund.
1MDB also claimed that Arul Kanda and Mohd Irwan misappropriated US$3.5 billion paid to Aabar Investments and US$1.265bil paid to International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) on May 9, 2017, constituting a breach of trust and conspiracy.
1MDB alleged that Mohd Irwan conspired with Arul Kanda to implement the Employment Extension Agreement, resulting in a substantial payment of RM2,905,200 to Arul Kanda, regardless of 1MDB’s interests, causing the company to suffer losses and damages.
In this regard, 1MDB demanded that the defendants pay US$6.59bil for the breach, and an additional RM2.9mil from Mohd Irwan relating to the Employment Extension Agreement. – Bernama
Credit: The Star : News Feed
