KUALA LUMPUR – Prominent attorney Rosli Dahlan has made a bid to quell the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s (MACC) efforts to seize documents related to the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal.
Last week, the lawyer – who is a partner in a law firm tied to a US$6.5 billion settlement on the 1MDB bond issue – filed the application in the High Court to strike out MACC’s move.
He claimed that the graft buster lacked legal standing on the matter, as it is considered ultra vires, or beyond legal authority.
In his application, Rosli also claimed that the MACC did not possess the necessary power or authority on the matter, as there is a lack of specific jurisdiction for the court to grant relief sought by them.
He also sought punitive and exemplary damages as well as costs to be borne by MACC for allegedly abusing court processes and defaming him.
“There are material defects in MACC’s application which render the proceedings bad in law.
“As such, the continuation of MACC application proceedings against the applicant (Rosli) is an abuse of the court process and infringes the applicant’s (his) constitutional rights to be protected against oppressive or vexatious criminal proceedings,” he said in the application.
“The deliberate naming of applicants as the first respondent in MACC’s application is mala fide (in bad faith), malicious as well as slanderous, whereas none of the documents sought in MACC’s application related to the applicant.
“Therefore, the MACC application against the applicant ought to be struck out forthwith.”
The MACC, on October 11 filed two separate applications in court to seize documents from Rosli and his law firm Rosli Dahlan Saravana (RDS) as well as Chetan Jethwani and his law firm Chetan Jethwani & Co, respectively, regarding the government settlements with Ambank and Goldman Sachs regarding the 1MDB case.
Both Rosli and Chetan had also represented former prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin in a criminal case related to the Jana Wibawa project and civil suit, respectively.
MACC, in its application, had requested for the lawyers to submit ten documents including Chetan’s appointment as Goldman Sachs lawyer and Rosli’s appointment as 1MDB’s lawyer, as well as the duo and their company’s bank account statements.
In the application’s affidavit, MACC said that they are investigating the duo under Section 17(a) of the MACC Act 2009 and Section 4(1) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001.
It was reported on October 6 that more than 10 MACC officers raided Rosli’s law firm office in Publika, Solaris Dutamas, where the lawyer claimed that the officers demanded the right to obtain and seize certain documents belonging to the firm. – November 8, 2023