KUALA LUMPUR: The seizure of superyacht Equanimity is legal under both Malaysian and international laws, said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Liew Vui Keong.
He said the High Court here had validly exercised its admiralty jurisdiction to issue the warrant of arrest on the controversial luxury vessel when it was brought to Port Klang on Aug 7.
“The allegation by Pengerang (member of parliament Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said) is not true.
“The United States government has agreed with the Indonesian government’s move to hand over the Equanimity to the Malaysian government.
“Allegations that our seizure of the ship violated other countries’ laws have no basis at all,” said Liew.
He said the ship was purchased with monies from sovereign wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), and that the seizure was also in relation to 1MDB’s two subsidiaries, which he did not name.
The de facto law minister was answering Azalina (BN-Pengerang) during Minister’s Question Time at the Dewan Rakyat this morning.
She had asked whether the recent allegation by the lawyer of businessman Low Taek Jho, also known as Jho Low, was true.
The lawyer had alleged that the Equanimity’s seizure by the Malaysian government was invalid and infringed on the legal proceedings of other nations.
In response to Azalina’s additional question on whether the government would allow any party to file their claim on the vessel before it is sold off, Liew said that an arrest warrant had been issued against the registered owners of the ship, its registration being 1012086 Cayman Islands.
He said the government had filed an affidavit in court to support the issuance of the warrant of arrest against the defendant and the ship Equanimity.
“The government awaits the return of Jho Low to claim the ship. We always await his coming back to this country,” he said.
In answering an additional question by Wong Kah Woh (PH-Ipoh Timur), Liew said the ship was constructed in Rotterdam, Netherlands, on Sept 9, 2013.
He said records showed the ship was under the names of Jho Low and his parents, Low Hock Peng and Evelyn Low. He also said they flew from Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, to Rotterdam to view the vessel.
Liew said on March 24, 2014, a London-based lawyer acted for Jho Low to buy financial statements and a chart detailing the acquisition of the Equanimity, which was delivered to the businessman in June the same year.
“The government aims, through legal proceedings for a (court) order, to sell the vessel and for a declaration that 1MDB is the legal or beneficial owner of the ship,” he said.
He added that the sovereign wealth fund would be entitled to proceeds from the sale of the ship and that the government is also seeking a court order to distribute the proceeds from the sale to 1MDB.