DoJ denies cooperating in Malaysia's Equanimity arrest

Updated 7 years ago · Published on 18 Aug 2018 9:52AM · 10 Comments

Luxury yacht Equanimity was seized by Malaysia last week. The vessel is among assets allegedly bought with funds siphoned off state investor 1Malaysia Development Bhd. – The Malaysian Insight file pic, August 18, 2018.

THE US Department of Justice, in a filing with a federal court in California, has confirmed that luxury yacht Equanimity was seized illegally and without Washington’s knowledge.

Lawyers for Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho today said the latest filing confirms their claim that the vessel was seized illegally and without the US knowing about it.

They said the filing showed that Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Attorney-General Tommy Thomas had lied about Putrajaya’s arrest of the yacht.

“Malaysia’s illegal seizure of Equanimity was without US knowledge or consent, and in violation of both a US court order and a decision of an Indonesian court.

“Today’s court filing by DoJ directly contradicts the false statements of the Mahathir regime, which stated without equivocation that the US was involved with, and agreed to, the illegal seizure of this asset,” they said in a statement on behalf of Low, better known as Jho Low.

They said the DoJ filing states that Washington had planned to bring the asset to the US, spending considerable sums on a crew and fuel, as well as the vessel’s upkeep.

“Then, Dr Mahathir stole it right out from under them, and flat-out lied about it.”

The DoJ filing is in reply to Low’s lawyers, who had filed a notice on August 6 in a California district court, directing the US government to reveal its knowledge on the yacht’s transfer.

Low also wanted the US to state any efforts it had made to secure the vessel in a status report by yesterday, and detail what actions the US had taken to get clarification on Malaysia’s intentions.

In today’s statement, Low’s lawyers said Dr Mahathir had, last Saturday, said “they (US government) said, if we want to keep it, we are entitled to it because this is ours and bought with stolen Malaysian money, and when we eventually sell the boat, we’re entitled to the proceeds”.

They said Thomas previously said the seizure happened after “sensitive and delicate negotiations with the US”.

“Based on the DoJ filing, these are all lies. The Mahathir regime has once again embarrassed the US in a vain attempt to justify the illegal taking of this asset, done with utter disregard for the rule of law in two jurisdictions.

“In reality, his desperate attempt to justify his actions makes it impossible to sell the asset at a fair value because of still-open legal questions as to actual ownership, and the legal repercussions that might be faced by any new owner.”

The yacht, which was seized by Indonesia in February, is among assets worth US$1.7 billion (RM6.9 billion) that US investigators said were illegally bought using money misappropriated from 1Malaysia Development Bhd.

Dr Mahathir previously thanked Indonesian President Joko Widodo for his cooperation in handing over Equanimity to Malaysia, and called for its owner to prove that the funds used to purchase the vessel were legitimate and not from 1MDB.

The US$250 million yacht is docked at the Boustead Cruise Centre Terminal, after its arrival last week.

It was reported that Thomas said the government expected to complete the vessel’s sale within this year, possibly in the next three to four months.

He said proceeds from the sale of Equanimity, which was seized under the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act (Amla), would be placed in a fixed-deposit trust account.

He also said he did not expect the trust account to be set up until “much later”.

Under Amla, the public prosecutor can forfeit the assets of those who have committed money laundering offences.

Thomas said prosecutors seized the yacht under admiralty law, due to its universality. – August 18, 2018.

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Comments

  • if its urs , admit and come back to claim
    simple maths

    Posted 7 years ago by Lan Lan · Reply

  • Fat boy stop talking COCK

    Posted 7 years ago by CHEE Meng Ng · Reply

    • Let him talk more, the more he talks the faster we know where he hide.

      Posted 7 years ago by Jacob Chang Sadang · Reply

  • A fugitive like a terrorist has no civil rights. If you want your boat back, come to Malaysia and make your claim in the Admiralty Court.

    Posted 7 years ago by Gerard Lourdesamy · Reply

  • DOJ act on the consideration of money spend on buying Equinimity are from the illegal proceed of 1MDB . Therefor what ever sales proceed out of equinimity eventually will be returned back to Malaysian people. On that note Malaysian government acting on behalf of 1 MDB are the righfull owner of the Equinimity on the ground of investigation findings in all DOJ reports. There is no collusion nor acting arbitrarily or illegal action on behalf of Malaysia since all action taken are to protect the interest of 1 MDB and people of Malaysia.

    Posted 7 years ago by Raflly Nann · Reply

    • Youre absolutely right. Jho Low is desperately trying to change the narrative. It wont work. The more he talks, the worse will be his stay in prison.

      Posted 7 years ago by Simple Sulaiman · Reply

  • All I see is a loser sniping from inside his hiding hole... any man worth his salt would immediately disclose how he obtained his wealth tfrom justify his billion ringgit acquisition. All this guy does is yell like the boy who cried wolf

    Posted 7 years ago by Rock Hensem · Reply

  • We learned from a thief

    Posted 7 years ago by Chean Ang Heng · Reply

  • Jho Low and najib's reasoning are identical, they learned from each other.

    Posted 7 years ago by Azis Yusoff · Reply

  • Why should U.S claim for something that's not theirs in the first place.

    Posted 7 years ago by Jackal Way · Reply