KUALA LUMPUR - Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor today failed in her bid to have High Court judge Adlin Abdul Majid recuse herself from presiding over the US$346 million civil suit filed by 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) against her.
The suit by 1MDB and 10 other companies against the wife of former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak was in relation to the purchase of luxury goods totalling more than US$346 million, allegedly obtained through the misappropriation of 1MDB funds.
At today’s proceedings, Justice Adlin who rejected Rosmah’s application said the former prime minister’s wife failed to prove any real danger of bias if she (judge) continues to preside over the civil suit.
The judge said she was in charge of the corporate division when she was with the law firm Lee Hishammuddin Allen & Gledhill (LHAG), while all affairs related to 1MDB, were handled by the legal division.
"I refute the allegation that there was a real danger of bias. The application is therefore rejected with cost,” said the judge who also ordered Rosmah to pay RM10,000 as costs to the plaintiffs, and set Sept 20 for case management.
In her application filed on June 25, Rosmah asked the judge to recuse herself from hearing the case because she was a partner at LHAG, a 1MDB's appointed law firm, from March 2011 to March 2021, before being appointed as Judicial Commissioner on April 1, 2021.
Rosmah said the law firm was involved in 1MDB’s asset recovery since 2018 as found in media reports published between Aug 30, 2018, and June 4, 2021.
Rosmah said it is her absolute right to get a fair trial and that right will be prejudiced or become useless if Judge Adlin continues to preside over the case.
On May 9, 1MDB and 10 other companies filed a lawsuit against Rosmah over the purchase of luxury items amounting to over US$346 million, alleged to have been obtained through the misappropriation of 1MDB funds.
Five of the companies were its subsidiaries, namely 1MDB Energy Holdings Limited; 1MDB Energy Limited; 1MDB Energy (Langat) Limited; Global Diversified Investment Company Limited; and SRC International Sdn Bhd. The other five companies are Affinity Equity International Partners Limited; Alsen Chance Holdings Limited; Blackrock Commodities (Global) Limited; Blackstone Asia Real Estate Partners Limited; and Brightstone Jewellery Limited.
All the plaintiffs named Rosmah and a woman named Shabnam Naraindas Daswani (also known as Natasha Mirpuri) as the first and second defendants.
The plaintiffs are contending that the luxury items, such as jewellery, watches, and handbags, were acquired or obtained by Rosmah or the second defendant not with Rosmah’s personal funds, but rather with funds misappropriated from the companies, which were channelled through various offshore entities before being disbursed to 48 different vendors in 14 countries.
Therefore, among other claims, all the companies are demanding that Rosmah pay USD346,010,489 or such other amount as the court may deem appropriate.
They also seek court declarations, including one asserting that the first to sixth plaintiffs hold rightful ownership of the luxury items, currently purported to be in Rosmah's possession.
At today’s proceeding, Rosmah was represented by Datuk Seri Rajan Navaratnam, while all the plaintiffs were represented by Datuk Lim Chee Wee. - BERNAMA