The move by the United States Department of Justice (DoJ) to seize assets allegedly linked to 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) is legally flawed, according to a senior Malaysian-born Australian lawyer.
Quintin Rozario, a prominent litigation lawyer in Brisbane, said by making public statements on Malaysian individuals allegedly to have laundered illicit funds into the US, its Attorney-General Loretta Lynch had herself committed "excesses and breaches of natural justice".
Rozario told Bernama from Brisbane that Lynch overstepped the mark and her authority by concluding that an offence or offences had been committed by Malaysia or its agents.
"She went further by implying that they were guilty of the offence by making assertions without a scintilla of proof or a valid court decision that could back her assertions.
"In order for that to occur, the Malaysian defendants ought to first to have been heard. They were not," he said.
Rozario said it was a legal principle that even the most vile of criminals were deserving of and entitled to the doctrine of natural justice under the constitution.
"The right to be heard and to be afforded an opportunity to present their defence, to challenge the assertions and charges and the evidence against them and for the respondents in this matter to confront their accusers has not yet arisen.
"For the highest legal officer of the land in Loretta Lynch to act in such an arbitrary manner as she has recently is to deny the respondents a fair hearing or any hearing at all. Loretta has become a judge, jury and executioner all in one," he added.
Rozario said the US Attorney-General's action was also clearly against a decision made by the US Supreme Court in 2014 in the case of Daimler vs Baume, in which the apex court ruled that any violation of act committed by residents in the US, their conduct could not be atributed to the government or as in this case, 1MDB.
"Instead the Supreme Court ruled that their activities would only establish specific juridiction in the state they reside in the US," he said.
Lynch, in prepared remarks to announce the legal action on July 20, said among other things that a high-flying Malaysian businessman known as Jho Low had allegedly laundered hundreds of millions of illicit funds into the US, which funded real estate purchases and a lavish personal lifestyle.
"The 2014 US Supreme Court decision is a clear authority that even if Jho Low or others mentioned in the complaint were residents of any state of the US and were agents of 1MDB or the government of Malaysia and that they had committed a violation of any act in their state, their conduct could not be attributed to the government or 1MDB," said Rozario.
The lawyer also spoke of the US record of observing international law which he described as "inconsistent at best and selective and flawed at worst".
He said the US had the economic, political and military might to exercise over those who they could and wished to subdue.
"Loretta Lynch's approach to 1MDB follows a long line of authority of the US using strong arm tactics on smaller states. It does this by appropriating to itself powers to dilute Malaysia's sovereignty and to enforce against it 'legal obligations' usurping that power from the US and Malaysian courts and other arms of their goverment," he added.
Rozario's arguments reinforced Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak's remark on Thursday that due process needed to be respected and that those named in the DoJ action should have a chance to defend themselves, including in court.
Bernama
Sun Jul 31 2016
The move by DOJ to seize assets allegedly linked to 1MDB is legally flawed, said a senior Malaysian-born Australian lawyer. -Filepix
KDN muktamad pembelian empat helikopter untuk APMM bernilai RM600 juta
Kertas kerja bagi perolehan aset itu sudah diserahkan kepada Kementerian Kewangan untuk keputusan akhir.
Tulis ancaman bom atas bungkusan, pekerja stor didenda RM3,000
Muhammad Rozali Rahim, 23, membuat pengakuan itu ketika pertuduhan terhadapnya dibacakan di hadapan Majistret Muhammad Bukhori Md Ruslan.
Kempen PRK KKB lancar setakat ini - Polis Selangor
Kempen PRK DUN KKB yang memasuki hari ketiga hari ini berjalan lancar dan tiada sebarang insiden tidak diingini dilaporkan setakat ini.
Buletin AWANI Khas: Asia Barat sedang ‘Stress’: Dialog menteri-menteri dunia Arab
Situasi meruncing di Gaza, konflik Iran-Israel dan ditambah pula persaingan kuat dua kuasa, Amerika Syarikat dan China dilihat terus membayangi percaturan geopolitik dan geoekonomi negara-negara Islam di Asia Barat. Beberapa Menteri Luar negara-negara Arab duduk sepentas di Mesyuarat Khas WEF, Riyadh dalam sesi ini.
#SpecialMeeting24
#SpecialMeeting24
AWANI Ringkas: Projek NTC | Sindiket Dadah
Ikuti rangkuman berita utama yang menjadi tumpuan sepanjang hari di Astro AWANI menerusi AWANI Ringkas.
Kilang cat terbakar, dua sekolah di Meru diarah ditutup
Penutupan dua buah sekolah terlibat iaitu SK Meru dan Sekolah Rendah Agama Meru 2 itu dibuat atas faktor keselamatan.
AWANI 7:45 [29/04/2024] – Meja bulat bersama 50 pemimpin industri dunia | Penggunaan komersial capai 80 peratus
PM yakin Malaysia jadi destinasi pelabur bernilai tinggi.
Kerajaan perkenal program solar untuk pengguna komersial.
Kelas Terapung dilaksana kawasan penduduk kepadatan tinggi.
Laporan Bank Dunia dedah hanya 58 peratus pelajar mahir membaca menjelang akhir darjah 5.
Kerajaan perkenal program solar untuk pengguna komersial.
Kelas Terapung dilaksana kawasan penduduk kepadatan tinggi.
Laporan Bank Dunia dedah hanya 58 peratus pelajar mahir membaca menjelang akhir darjah 5.
Malaysia perlu berani menentang Denmark
Hanya kemenangan menentang Denmark, kuasa besar badminton dunia, dalam aksi penting Kumpulan D Piala Thomas 2024 esok akan membawa Malaysia mendahului carta kedudukan.
Polis tembak kereta mewah bawa dadah lebih RM100,000
Polis terpaksa melepaskan tembakan bagi mengawal keadaan selepas pemandu kenderaan terbabit bertindak agresif dan cuba merempuh anggota polis .
Indonesia sokong pendekatan Malaysia bantu bangun 'peradaban' banduan Indonesia
Penjara bukan semata-mata tempat menghukum tetapi mentransformasikan ia sebagai institusi pendidikan yang memberi peluang kepada penghuni.
Jho Low masukkan wang RM100 juta sebagai hadiah kepada bekas peguam 1MDB
Bekas peguam 1Malaysia Development Berhadmengaku di Mahkamah Tinggi bahawa beliau menerima hadiah RM100 juta daripada ahli perniagaan dalam buruan Jho Low, walaupun telah meninggalkan syarikat itu.
'Saya percayakan Jho Low sebab dia sudah miliki wang berjuta' - Jasmine Loo
Bekas peguam 1MDB memberitahu Mahkamah Tinggi Kuala Lumpur pada Jumaat bahawa tidak terlintas di fikirannya ahli perniagaan dalam buruan Jho Low adalah seorang penipu.
Utusan Malaysia mohon maaf kepada pembaca
Portal berita tempatan Utusan Malaysia memohon maaf selepas menerbitkan artikel berhubung pengampunan bekas Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
Najib tidak maklumkan terbitan bon AS$3.5 bilion kepada Kabinet
Mahkamah Tinggi hari ini diberitahu Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak tidak memaklumkan Kabinet mengenai terbitan bon AS$3.5 bilion.
Najib disyaki terima AS$681 juta untuk beli undi PRU13 - SPRM
Seorang pegawai penyiasat SPRM memberitahu Mahkamah Tinggi di sini pada Selasa bahawa, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak disyaki menerima AS$681 juta untuk membeli untuk PRU13 pada 11 tahun lalu.
Najib belanja RM80,000 untuk ubat cegah kanser pada 2013 - Pegawai penyiasat
Mahkamah diberitahu bahawa Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak membelanjakan RM80,000 pada 2013 untuk suplemen dan vitamin bagi pencegahan kanser daripada wang derma.
Muhyiddin titipkan doa buat Najib
Semalam, Menteri Kesihatan, Dr Zaliha Mustafa dalam sidang media di Parlimen turut mengesahkan masalah kesihatan yang sedang dihadapi Najib.
Berita tempatan pilihan sepanjang hari ini
Berikut adalah berita yang paling menjadi tumpuan sepanjang Selasa, 15 Ogos 2023.
1MDB: Kerajaan sita, lucut hak harta lebih RM83 juta
Kerajaan sudah menyita dan melucut hak pelbagai harta bernilai lebih RM83 juta berkait kes penyelewengan dana 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) setakat ini.
SPRM percaya Jho Low sembunyi di Macau - Laporan
Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia (SPRM) percaya bahawa ahli perniagaan dalam buruan Low Taek Jho atau Jho Low bersembunyi di Macau.