Kuala lumpur: The High Court here today partially allowed an application by former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak to obtain several documents ahead of the hearing of the US$8 billion civil suit filed by 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) and its subsidiaries against him and seven others.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, Judicial Commissioner Mohamad Redzuan Idrus granted Najib access to five categories of documents, including a complete list of all monies, assets, and properties recovered, returned, repatriated, or realized. The documents also include details of the terms and conditions of settlements related to 1MDB's financial losses from alleged abuse of power and breaches of fiduciary duties.
The court adopted a targeted discovery approach to balance the first defendant's concerns regarding state confidentiality against the scope of the application. The plaintiffs have been ordered to make and serve on Najib an affidavit within 21 days, stating whether the documents are or have at any time been in their possession, custody, or power, and to produce them for inspection and copying. The discovery order is strictly limited to five documents, for which the plaintiffs have admitted partial possession.
Mohamad Redzuan further ordered that the documents be disclosed only to the judge or judicial commissioner presiding over the case, court personnel, the parties involved in the suit, and their respective solicitors and counsel. The documents are to be treated as strictly confidential, used solely for the proceedings, and not made available for public inspection.
The suit, filed on May 7, 2021, initially named 15 individuals, including Najib, as defendants. However, seven parties were subsequently removed from the lawsuit, namely former chief executive officers Mohd Hazem Abdul Rahman and Datuk Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi, former directors Tan Sri Che Lodin Wok Kamaruddin, Tan Sri Ismee Ismail, Tan Sri Ong Gim Huat, and Ashvin Jethanand Valiram, and former chief financial officer Azmi Tahir. The remaining defendants include Loo Ai Swan, Tang Keng Chee, Geh Choh Heng, Vincent Beng Huat Koh, Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil, Kelvin Tan Kay Jin, and Radhi Mohamad.
The US$8 billion suit is one of 22 civil suits filed to claim over US$23 billion on behalf of 1MDB and its former subsidiary SRC International Sdn Bhd against several individuals allegedly involved in the financial scandal.