Oct 19 hearing for bid by Irwan Serigar, Arul Kanda to strike out US$6.59 billion claim by 1MDB

The applications of former treasury secretary-general Irwan Serigar Abdullah and former 1MDB CEO Arul Kanda Kandasamy to strike out a US$6.59 billion suit filed by 1MDB against them will be heard on Oct 19.

Lawyer Lavinia Kumaraendran, representing Irwan, said the defendants and plaintiff had agreed for the two applications to be heard simultaneously on Oct 19 before judicial commissioner Amarjeet Singh.

When contacted today, she said case management had been fixed for Oct 16.

The application to strike out the suit was filed by Arul Kanda last month while Irwan filed his on Feb 18.

In his application, Irwan alleged among others that the suit against him was premature as the investment of Brazen Sky Limited and payment of Aabar Investments PJS Limited were not clearly unsustainable as the court had yet to determine that 1MDB suffered losses of US$1.83 billion and US$3.5 billion.

1MDB filed the suit against Arul Kanda and Irwan in May last year, alleging that they had committed breach of trust and conspiracy, causing the company to suffer losses amounting to US$1.83 billion in relation to its investment in 1MDB-Petrosaudi Ltd which was converted into the alleged Brazen Sky Limited investment said to be found in the Bridge Global Fund.

1MDB also alleged that the two defendants committed breach of trust and conspiracy by misappropriating 1MDB money amounting to US$3.5 billion paid to Aabar Investments and US$1.265 billion paid to IPIC on May 9, 2017.

1MDB claims that Irwan also conspired with Arul Kanda to cause the company to implement the Employment Extension Agreement and made a substantial payment of RM2,905,200 to Arul Kanda in accordance with the agreement, regardless of 1MDB’s interests, causing the company to suffer losses and damage.

1MDB is demanding among others that the two defendants pay US$6.59 billion for the breach and an additional RM2.9 million from Irwan in relation to the Employment Extension Agreement.