March 22 Hearing Of Src S Asset Freezing Bid Against Najib

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The SRC International Sdn Bhd’s application for a Mareva injunction against Najib Abdul Razak’s assets, linked to its RM42 million civil suit against the former premier, would come up for a court hearing on March 22.
The legal teams for both the former 1MDB subsidiary and the former finance minister confirmed the date when contacted by Malaysiakini.
Under Malaysian law for civil action, a Mareva injunction is a court order which effectively freezes the assets of a defendant from being dissipated, pending the outcome of a related lawsuit.
This restraining order is particularly effective over liquid assets, such as money held in financial institutions.
Previously, in relation to a separate US$8 billion civil action by 1MDB, the court granted the sovereign wealth fund’s bid for Mareva injunction against Najib, who used to be chairperson of its board of advisers.
The court has also set Feb 21 to hear Najib’s bid to set aside that restraining order linked to US$681 million of 1MDB-linked assets.
In regard to SRC’s present civil action, its counsel Rosli Dahlan said the Kuala Lumpur High Court initially fixed Friday last week (Feb 11) to hear its ex-parte Mareva injunction application against Najib, who used to be its adviser emeritus.
Under Malaysia’s judiciary, an ex-parte application hearing is one that is conducted without the presence of the opposing party. The opposite of this is an inter partes application hearing, where lawyers from both sides are present to submit arguments.
SRC’s counsel Rosli DahlanShafee writes to appear at ex-parte hearing
Rosli said following Najib’s lawyers from law firm Shafee & Co writing in to appear during Friday’s ex-parte hearing, SRC’s legal team concurred to have the matter be treated as an inter partes matter.
“(Najib’s lead counsel Muhammad) Shafee (Abdullah) wrote in to ask to appear at the ex-parte (hearing on Friday last week).
“As gentlemen, we agreed to convert the ex-parte to inter partes hearing (on March 22), which makes the judge happy,” Rosli said, referring to High Court (civil jurisdiction) judge Mohd Arief Emran Arifin.
Najib’s counsel Nur Syahirah Hapaniah confirmed the inter partes hearing on March 22.
“We (Najib’s legal team) have been directed to reply to their (SRC) affidavit (in support of the Mareva injunction application) by Feb 25.
"We will submit on it (during court hearing) on March 22,” she said.
The present suit is among the 22 civil actions launched by 1MDB and SRC last year, targeting those who purportedly defrauded the two government-owned entities, whether knowingly or unknowingly.
In the current civil action, the two plaintiffs are SRC - which is wholly owned by the Minister of Finance Incorporated (MOF Inc) - and its subsidiary Gandingan Mentari Sdn Bhd. The suit's sole defendant is Najib.
In July 2020, following a full criminal court trial, Najib was sentenced to 12 years' jail and fined RM210 million for graft charges related to RM42 million he received from SRC.
On Dec 8 last year, the Court of Appeal upheld Najib's conviction and sentencing. He is awaiting his appeal against the decision to be heard by the Federal Court. - Mkini

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