KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission has obtained a court order from the Kuala Lumpur High Court to prohibit certain parties from dealing with assets worth US$340mil (RM1.511bil) linked to 1Malaysia Development Bhd.
MACC in a statement said the funds, currently held in the Court Funds Office in the United Kingdom, were declared off-limits on Dec 10 by Judge Datuk Ahmad Shahrir Mohd Salleh.
The ruling came after the prosecution presented sufficient evidence indicating the funds were connected to money laundering activities.
The order also prevents PetroSaudi International Ltd (PSI) chief executive officer Tarek Obaid from accessing the funds.
"The prohibition order was issued under Section 53 of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 (AMLTFPUAA 2001), based on an application filed by the prosecution in 2020.
"On March 13, 2024, the MACC also successfully obtained a prohibition order against 41 pieces of jewellery in Hong Kong worth 9,417,842.60 in pound sterling belonging to Tarek Obaid," MACC said in the statement.
On July 16, 2020, the court granted the government's application for a temporary order to prevent the parties involved from moving money linked to 1MDB and keeping it in an escrow account held by Clyde & Co.
The order was to maintain the status quo of the parties involved until the disposal of the government's application to obtain an order to prevent any dealings involving money belonging to PSI and its subsidiary PSOS-VZ which are currently in the account.
The government also sought to freeze an unspecified amount of money deposited in an intermediate account name of Temple Fiduciary Services at Barclays Bank.
The government claimed that the money involved came from 1MDB funds in a joint venture with PSI to establish 1MDB PetroSaudi Ltd in 2010.
The application names Obaid, PSI, PSOS-VZ, Clyde & Co and Temple Fiduciary as the first to fifth respondents.
MACC officer Mohd Afiq Ab Aziz, who was the investigating officer of the case, had said he believed that the monies in Clyde & Co LLP would be dispersed after a legal dispute between Petrosaudi Oil Services (Venezuela) Ltd and Venezuelan government-owned Petróleos de Venezuela.
Afiq in his affidavit said his investigation revealed that in Sept 2019, the law firm had entered into an agreement to use the money for the arbitration proceedings.