00:00The Court of Appeal has ruled that the High Court had no jurisdiction to hear 1MDB suit
00:05against UK law firm White & Kay's LLP.
00:08The suit concerns allegations that the firm assisted in fraud and conspiracy linked to
00:131MDB transactions involving Petro-Saudi International Ltd.
00:17Justice K. Muniandi said 1MDB had failed to meet the legal requirements for serving court
00:23proceedings on a defendant outside Malaysia.
00:25He ruled according to the Courts of Judicature Act 1964 and the Rules of Court 2012.
00:32The three-member bench allowed White & Kay's appeal and set aside the writ served against
00:37the firm.
00:38Muniandi also ruled that Petro-Saudi Director Patrick Mahoney, who lives abroad, could not
00:43be used as an anchor defendant to justify serving the lawsuit on White & Kay's outside Malaysia.
00:49The court further ruled that 1MDB's 2024 suit was filed out of time under the limitation
00:55Act 1953, as the alleged losses and fraud had already been made public in 2015 and 2016.
01:02The Court of Appeal also set aside the High Court's decision to consolidate the White & Kay's
01:07suit with a separate action against Deutsche Bank involving US$1.11 billion.
01:13Muniandi said the consolidation was a tactical move by 1MDB to cure the jurisdictional defect.
01:181MDB had sought US$1.83 billion and US$33 million in damages from White & Kay's and Mahoney,
01:26alleging that the law firm helped Petro-Saudi and others commit fraud and conspiracy against
01:31the fund.
01:32The court ordered 1MDB to pay RM130,000 in costs to White & Kay's, while 1MDB's lawyers
01:40indicated they had instructions to seek leave to appeal to the federal court.
01:44Jessalyn Kaur, FMT.
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