Equanimity probe is 'progressing as planned', says 1MDB lawyer

KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 16): Investigations into the RM1 billion Equanimity (pictured) superyacht as part of a corruption probe linked to 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) is "going as planned", says lawyer Sitpah Selvaratnam, who is heading the team of lawyers representing 1MDB and the Malaysian government in the claim over Equanimity.

"It is okay. It (the investigations) is going as planned," Sitpah, a leading maritime and commercial litigator, told reporters on the sidelines of the four-day International Malaysian Law Conference 2018 here today.

However, Sitpah declined to comment on a recent report that lawyers for Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho, or Jho Low, want the US to explain why Malaysia is thanking it profusely for helping to seize his yacht after the US Justice Department had said it wasn't involved in turning over the vessel.

"No comments on that, please," she said, adding that further questions should be directed to the Attorney-General's Chambers.

The Cayman Islands-flagged Equanimity arrived in Port Klang from Indonesia on Aug 7, following a personal request made by Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who visited the republic in June. The yacht was first seized in Bali in February at the request of US authorities investigating 1MDB.

The yacht is reportedly among more than US$1.5 billion in assets that the US claims were acquired by Low and his accomplices with money they siphoned from the 1MDB fund. — theedgemarkets.com

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