KUALA LUMPUR: Former 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) general counsel Jasmine Loo Ai Swan has been granted an extention of time to file her defence against a lawsuit brought by the company seeking to recover US$8 millions funds.
High Court judge Datuk Atan Mustaffa Yussof Ahmad instructed the former lawyer to file her defence before April 22 during the management of the case today.
The sovereign wealth funds also named former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, former chief financial officer Terrence Geh Choh Heng, former executive director Casey Tang Keng Chee, and former chief investment officer Vincent Beng as defendants.
Also named are former chief operating officer Radhi Mohamad, former investment director Kelvin Tan Kay Jim, and former SRC International Bhd chief executive officer Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil.
Loo, who was on the run for five years was arrested on July 7 last year and is the star witness in Najib's ongoing corruption trial for misappropriating millions of funds belonging to 1MDB.
1MDB and its for subsidiary – 1MDB Energy Holdings Ltd, 1MDB Energy Ltd, 1MDB Energy (Langat) Ltd, and Global Diversified Investment Company Ltd filed the suit on May 7, 2021.
It is one of the 22 civil suits filed to recover US$23 billion of 1MDB funds against several individuals allegedly involved in the global-scale financial scandal.
The plaintiffs asserted that the defendants committed breach of trust, breached statutory duties, abused power, conspired, and misappropriated 1MDB funds.
Najib, 70, is standing trial on 25 charges of abuse of power and money laundering over alleged 1MDB funds amounting to RM2.28 billion deposited into his AmBank accounts between February 2011 and December 2014.