Equanimity was properly seized under the laws of Malaysia, says AG

PETALING JAYA: The Equanimity was properly seized under Malaysian laws, says Attorney General Tommy Thomas.

He said the Attorney-General’s Chambers had invoked the Admiralty jurisdiction of the High Court of Malaya at Kuala Lumpur against the yacht and on Monday (Aug 6), the Court issued a Warrant of Arrest against it.

“Accordingly, the Equanimity is properly seized under the laws of Malaysia,” he said in a statement just after the billion-ringgit superyacht docked at the Boustead Cruise Centre, Pulau Indah at 1pm on Tuesday (Aug 7).

Thomas added that following the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties (MLAs) between Indonesia, the United States and Malaysia which were activated recently, “sensitive and delicate negotiations” were conducted at the highest levels of different agencies in the three countries to accomplish the feat of bringing Equanimity back to Malaysia.

“The yacht was seized by the Indonesian authorities in Bali on 28 February 2018 on the application of the Department of Justice (DOJ) of the United States.

“The seizure was done at the initiative of the DOJ, which asserted ownership of the yacht on behalf of Malaysia and 1MDB because monies belonging to us were used to purchase it,” he added.

Thomas also expressed profound gratitude to the Governments of Indonesia and the United States, especially the Republic of Indonesia Police (POLRI) in extending cooperation and collaboration to Malaysia to enable Equanimity to return to Malaysia.

Among the local agencies involved in this operation were the Royal Malaysia Police, the Royal Malaysian Navy, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and the Attorney-General’s Chambers, he added.