KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court here has granted a stay on an ex parte forfeiture order obtained by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) earlier this month to freeze £132mil (RM758.2mil) worth of assets in London belonging to Toh Puan Na’imah Abdul Khalid (pic) and her family.
Justice Azhar Abdul Hamid stayed the order pending Na’imah’s application to intervene in the MACC’s notice of motion.
“The application (to be an intervener) should be heard inter partes. It should be filed and served within 14 days. At the same time, the order dated June 3 is stayed,” Justice Azhar said here yesterday.
The court fixed July 9 for the hearing of the application to intervene.
On June 3, the same court granted the MACC an order to freeze the assets in London belonging to Na’imah, the wife of the late former finance minister Tun Daim Zainuddin.
The assets include two commercial buildings, five luxury residences and one bank account.
According to the MACC, investigations revealed the assets were linked to suspected offences under Section 4(1) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001.
The commission said the freeze was part of ongoing efforts to trace and recover assets believed to be connected to unlawful activity.
At a separate High Court, Justice K. Muniandy fixed Aug 1 to hear Na’imah’s application to intervene in another ex parte notice of motion filed by the MACC.
The MACC went to the court yesterday to obtain an ex parte court order under Section 53 of the same Act to forfeit more than RM544mil in US dollars and pound sterling.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Wan Nur Iman Wan Ahmad Afzal told the court the monies – investments locked in 12 bank accounts in Singapore – belonged to Na’imah, her family and her associates.
“An investigation has been carried out by the Inland Revenue Board. Based on preliminary investigation, we believe the assets owned by Na’imah and her associates had never been declared.
“We say that the assets must be frozen before they are disposed of,” she said in her application.
Na’imah’s lawyer Datuk Dr Gurdial Singh Nijar said he was “perplexed and disappointed” over the application, as the MACC had never mentioned any respondent’s name in their filing.
“The order isn’t just against the property but also against the person. This application cannot proceed as an ex parte. It has to proceed as an inter partes.
“I seek that this court make no order (on the freeze) until an inter partes application is heard,” he said.
Justice Muniandy ruled that the application to intervene would be heard inter partes and fixed Aug 1 for the hearing.
