1MDB board hails court order blocking PetroSaudi’s US$340m funds

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 12 — The board of 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) said that it welcomes the High Court’s decision yesterday to allow the government’s application to block PetroSaudi International Ltd (PSI) and its director Tarek Obaid from the fund.

It said it believes the US$340 million (RM1.61 billion) linked to the fund rightfully belong to the Malaysian people, and that the judgment is a key step towards the restoration of these misappropriated funds.

“In particular, we welcome the Court’s decision to grant the prohibition order to freeze US$340 million and to hold that the monies in question were linked to money-laundering activities concerning 1MDB.

“This is part of our recovery strategy to restore embezzled funds located in the UK and internationally to the Malaysian people,” it said in a statement here.

“Our priority is the full restitution of the misappropriated assets and funds to our nation and its people.”

It added that it will continue to leverage both Malaysian and foreign legal mechanisms to ensure that those who orchestrated the crime face the full weight of the law and surrender all stolen funds.

“We will continue to pursue those responsible for the looting of 1MDB and recover our nation’s rightful assets, wherever they may be,” it said.

The monies, allegedly linked to the multimillion-dollar sovereign wealth fund scandal, are currently held in a client account at Clyde & Co LLP in the United Kingdom on behalf of PetroSaudi Oil Services (Venezuela) (PSOS-VZ).

PSOS-VZ is a subsidiary of PetroSaudi Oil Services Ltd (PSOSL). PSOSL is a unit of PSI, co-founded by Obaid.

Justice Datuk Ahmad Shahrir Mohd Salleh granted the prohibition order yesterday after the public prosecutor successfully demonstrated, through an affidavit, that the sum of US$340 million is either the subject matter or evidence of a money-laundering offence under Subsection 4(1) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing, and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 (AMLATFPUAA).

In 2020, the court granted the government’s application for an interim order to block the parties from moving the monies linked to 1MDB and keeping it in an escrow account held by the firm.

The Malaysian government claimed that the money involved came from 1MDB funds in a joint venture with PSI to establish 1MDB PetroSaudi Ltd in 2010.