Gerakan Belia Gagasan 1Malaysia to contest 1MDB forfeiture suit

Gerakan Belia Gagasan 1Malaysia will contest the civil forfeiture suit filed by the MACC to recoup a total of RM270 million in 1MDB-linked assets.

This was revealed by deputy public prosecutor Farah Yasmin Salleh today after case management in the chambers of the deputy registrar of the High Court in Kuala Lumpur, T Kavita.

"Gerakan Belia Gagasan 1Malaysia had no lawyer today. They will contest (the suit)," Farah told reporters.

She said that the court fixed Aug 21 for case management to allow the organisation to appoint a lawyer and challenge the RM170,000 forfeiture suit filed against it.

The other 1MDB forfeiture suits that underwent case management today involved Pertubuhan Kebajikan Dakwah Islamiah Malaysia (Pekida) and Yayasan Penyelidikan Transformasi.

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For the Pekida case, the court also set Aug 21 to hear the outcome of a representation that the organisation sent to the Attorney-General's Chambers.

Under normal circumstances, a representation consists of proposed means of resolution, especially in criminal cases.

Pekida secretary-general Mohd Zain Ghazali told reporters today that his organisation is the first to offer to not contest the suit, as they do not wish the matter to be prolonged.

"We already sent out the representation on July 1," Zain said, adding that he has the consent of two-thirds of the Pekida supreme council to settle the matter and enable its bank account to be reopened.

Zain was with Pekida lawyer Nor Zabetha Muhammad Nor, who attended case management today.

As for Yayasan Penyelidikan Transformasi, Farah said that Aug 6 has been fixed to hear the prosecution's bid to gazette its notice for third parties to attend proceedings.

The notice is aimed at alerting third parties with interest in the matter to stake any claim they may have in the assets that the MACC is looking to seize.

It was previously reported that the commission is seeking to recoup RM407,101 from Yayasan Penyelidikan Transformasi.

"We obtained the date of Aug 6 to hear the prosecution's application for gazetting of the third party notice before the High Court," Farah said.

Yayasan Penyelidikan Transformasi was not represented in the case management today. It was previously reported that, like Pekida, the foundation would not contest the suit.

The MACC filed the civil forfeiture suits last month, the largest in the nation's history, against 41 individuals and groups.

MACC chief commissioner Latheefa Koya said that the RM270 million sought was distributed to respondents from former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak's personal AmBank account.