THE Kuala Lumpur High Court will rule next Friday whether to allow a preliminary objection filed by Pekan Umno against a forfeiture suit by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), which is seeking to recover funds linked to 1Malaysia Development Bhd.

Lawyer M. Reza Hassan, appearing before justice Mohd Nazlan Mohd Ghazali, said the party division refused to settle the RM700,000 sought by the anti-graft agency and that it wants the suit struck out on the grounds that it failed to fulfil procedural compliance.

The division is headed by former prime minister Najib Razak, who is also Pekan MP.

Reza said the government failed to identify the office bearer in the suit, thereby nullifying the prosecution’s case. 

Deputy public prosecutor Maziah Mahade responded that the person need not be named as the party division was identified as the owner of the bank account where the disputed funds were kept.

MACC filed civil forfeiture suits against 41 individuals and entities in a bid to recover RM270 million of 1MDB-linked funds.

Today, two entities and an individual named in the suit have agreed to return some RM1.2 million.

Deputy public prosecutor Allan Suman Pillai told the court that Yayasan Rahah, Naza Quest Auto Sdn Bhd and Ibrahim Awang Ismail agreed to settle.

The government had sought to forfeit RM839,488.82 from Yayasan Rahah, RM269,662 from Naza Quest and RM100,000 from Ibrahim.

Nazlan set September 6 to record their consent judgments for the foundation and the Umno member.

September 13 was fixed for consent judgement of Naza Quest, which had previously stated that the amount received in 2012 and 2013 was for the payment for four Chevrolet cars in 2012 and 2013. – August 23, 2019.