THE High Court today set July 24 to hear the application of former Treasury secretary-general Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah and former 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) chief executive officer Arul Kanda Kandasamy to strike out a US$6.59 billion suit filed by 1MDB against them.

Lawyer Brendan Siva, who represented 1MDB, said Judicial Commissioner Ahmad Mohzanuddin Shah Raja Mohzan set the date during case management, which was held online today.

“The court also ordered both defendants (Irwan and Arul) to file additional affidavits for their application to amend the statement of defence, before or on May 31, as well as additional submissions for the applications to strike out the suit, if any, during the same period (before or on May 31),” he said.

The proceedings were also attended by lawyer Lavinia Kumaraendran, representing Irwan, while lawyer Gobinath Karuppan acted on behalf of Arul.

Irwan filed an application to strike out the suit on February 18, 2022, on the grounds that the suit against him was premature as the investment of Brazen Sky Limited and the payment of Aabar Investments PJS Limited were clearly unsustainable, and that the court has yet to determine that 1MDB suffered losses of US$1.83 billion and US$3.5 billion.

Arul filed the same application on June 2, 2022, on the grounds that he cannot be held responsible for the losses incurred by 1MDB as a result of irregularities committed by others.

In May 2021, 1MDB filed a suit against Arul and Irwan over an alleged breach of trust and conspiracy, causing 1MDB to suffer losses amounting to US$1.83 billion, in relation to its investment in 1MDB-Petrosaudi Ltd, which was converted into the alleged Brazen Sky Limited investment, said to be found in the Bridge Global Fund.

1MDB also claimed that the two defendants committed a breach of trust and conspiracy by misappropriating 1MDB money, amounting to US$3.5 billion paid to Aabar Investments, and US$1.265 billion paid to International Petroleum Investment Company, on May 9, 2017.

1MDB alleged that Irwan also conspired with Arul to cause the company to implement the Employment Extension Agreement and made a substantial payment of RM2,905,200 to Arul in accordance with the agreement, regardless of 1MDB’s interests, causing the company to suffer losses and damage.

In this regard, 1MDB, among others, demanded that the two defendants pay US$6.59 billion for the breach, and an additional RM2.9 million from Irwan in relation to the Employment Extension Agreement. – Bernama, April 5, 2023.