KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 14 — Attorney General (AG) Tommy Thomas today revealed that one of the reasons why Malaysia invoked admiralty law in its seizure of the Equanimity was because the court is able to provide a good title.
“For example, if a buyer wants to buy foreclosure land under the National Land Code and the court would give a good title.
“In our present context, the government wants to sell the yacht as soon as possible and the established feature under admiralty law allows the sale of asset pending litigation,” he said during a special session with participants at the International Malaysia Law Conference 2018 at the Royale Chulan Hotel.
Good title is a title that is legally valid or effective which is marketable that can be again sold to a reasonable purchaser or mortgaged to a person.
Thomas also asked fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho — better known as Jho Low, and said to be Equanimity’s owner — to appoint good shipping lawyers to challenge the ownership of the vessel as it is an open and transparent system.
“The ship was arrested based on an ex-parte order and Jho Low can appoint a shipping lawyer to set aside the arrest warrant as it allows the Malaysian judiciary to be ‘tested’.
“In many ways, our admiralty system is on trial so the judiciary who is concerned with his or her reputation has got to make sure they make the right decision if there are applications because that way we can see Malaysia’s shipping law performing at the highest benchmark,” he said.
Thomas emphasised that the admiralty law would enable the yacht’s new owner to obtain a good title.
He believes Malaysia has a strong claim over the superyacht, insisting it was bought with money stolen from 1Malaysia Development Berhad.
“If the court proceeding went well, the ship could be sold and the money could be kept in a trust account within four to five months,” he said.
The RM1.02 billion vessel is currently docked at the Boustead Cruise Centre in Pulau Indah, Port Klang.
