KUALA LUMPUR (April 16): 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) on Tuesday failed to transfer its case concerning its US$6.59 billion (RM31.58 billion) suit against its former president Arul Kanda Kandasamy and former Treasury secretary general Tan Sri Dr Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah from the Civil High Court to the Commercial High Court.

The ruling was made by Judicial Commissioner Datuk Raja Ahmad Mohzanuddin Shah Raja Mohzan, who will now preside over the matter instead of Commercial High Court judge Atan Mustaffa Yussof Ahmad.

Raja Ahmad ruled that he had no jurisdiction to transfer the case to another court.

Furthermore, the court also ruled that there were no commonalities of issues between this case and the 1MDB main suit that Atan mostly presides over, and it would therefore not prejudice the case if the matter were to be heard in the Civil High Court.

Raja Ahmad also ordered 1MDB to pay RM4,000 costs each to Irwan and Arul Kanda, and fixed May 16 for case management to update on court documents.

Former Treasury secretary general Tan Sri Dr Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah (Photo by Zahid Izzani/The Edge)

1MDB, represented by lawyer Brendan Navin Siva, had wanted to transfer the case to Atan’s court, as the judge is presiding over the 1MDB main suit against former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and several of its former directors.

When contacted by The Edge, Brendan confirmed the ruling on Tuesday afternoon.

Lavinia Kumaraendran and Mavinthra Thillainathan appeared for Irwan, while Sanjay Mohan and Adam Lee appeared for Arul Kanda. Lavinia, when contacted separately by The Edge, confirmed the decision.

1MDB filed the suit against Arul Kanda and Irwan in May 2021, claiming that both men were liable for breach of duties and breach of trust that resulted in the company suffering losses amounting to US$1.83 billion through its investment in 1MDB PetroSaudi Ltd, which was converted into stakes in Brazen Sky Ltd and subsequently converted into an investment in Bridge Global Fund.

1MDB also alleges that Arul Kanda and Irwan had committed breach of trust and conspiracy by misappropriating US$3.5 billion of 1MDB money and paying it to Aabar Investments PJS Ltd — a shell company pretending to be a subsidiary of Aabar’s holding company International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) — and subsequently paying another US$1.265 billion to IPIC in May 2017.

Prior to Tuesday’s decision, Raja Ahmad had dismissed Arul Kanda’s counterclaim and an amendment to his defence.