KUALA LUMPUR: 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) and other plaintiffs in the US$346mil (RM1.6bil) lawsuit against Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor are bound by a previous court’s decision that the luxury goods within her possession were not proceeds from illegal activity. Rosmah contended that the plaintiff’s legal action was impeded by the principle of res judicata whereby the same matter cannot be litigated twice.
She said this in her statement of defence, filed on Thursday (July 4). The previous court decision mentioned by Rosmah is on a forfeiture proceeding by the government involving luxury goods and assets seized in a raid on two properties in a condominium at Pavilion, Kuala Lumpur, in 2018. She said the government had published a notice in August 2019 for a third party who had a stake in the properties to claim the items.
“None of the plaintiffs came forward to state any objections,” she said. Rosmah said the plaintiffs in the current lawsuit against her were blocked by the principle of estoppel from litigating the civil action and to demand reliefs from her. On May 9, 1MDB, SRC, and nine others (including four 1MDB subsidiaries) filed the lawsuit against Rosmah seeking US$364mil belonging to them.
The plaintiffs claimed that Rosmah, the wife of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, had used the funds from the companies to purchase luxury items such as jewellery, watches and handbags. Apart from 1MDB, SRC, and the four companies, other plaintiffs are Affinity E.
