KUALA LUMPUR: The Indonesian authorities have again boarded and seized the superyacht Equanimity after the previous seizure conducted in February was declared null and void on technical grounds.
Newsportal Malaysiakini reported that this was disclosed by the United States (US) Department of Justice (DOJ) in a court filing dated yesterday.
It said that the DOJ’s Office of International Affairs had submitted a request for mutual legal assistance (MLA) to the Indonesian Ministry of Law and Human Rights on April 19, which it carried on nearly two months later, on July 9.
“On July 9, 2018, Indonesian authorities executed the process by boarding the Equanimity with a copy of the warrant of arrest.
“During that boarding, the Indonesian authorities adhered a copy of the warrant of arrest in rem on the yacht and handed another copy of the warrant of arrest in rem to the Equanimity’s captain,” Malaysiakini, which sighted the documents reported.
It said the filing was lodged by the DOJ at the California Central District Court.
The filing is meant to notify the court that the arrest warrant issued by the court on June 16 last year had been executed, and it included pictures of the warrant being served by the Indonesian police aboard the Equanimity.
According to a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) report of the warrant service that was also filed in court, the Indonesian police had informed the FBI that the yacht’s captain was accompanied by a lawyer at the time when the arrest warrant was served.
“The Indonesian National Police believed that the attorney represented the yacht’s owners,” the report said.
The DOJ had lodged a civil forfeiture suit against the US$250 million vessel on June 15 last year as part of a series of 30 civil forfeiture suits aimed at seizing properties that were purported to be the proceeds of misappropriation of 1MDB funds that had been channelled through the US financial system.
It also claimed that the Equanimity is owned by the financier Low Taek Jho through a series of intermediaries. Jho Low had previously claimed that the allegations against him were politically motivated.
On Feb 28, Indonesian authorities boarded and seized the vessel at the DOJ’s request.
However, the South Jakarta District Court ruled that the seizure is invalid because the DOJ’s mutual legal assistance request was channelled directly to the Indonesian police, whereas Indonesian law requires the MLA request to be made through the Ministry of Law and Human Rights.
Malaysiakini reported that ship tracking service MarineTraffic, whowed that the Equanimity was currently anchored at Benoa Bay, off the coast of Bali.