KUALA LUMPUR, April 9 — 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), SRC International Sdn Bhd and several other companies have withdrawn their US$346 million lawsuit against Singaporean national Shabnam Naraindas Daswani, who was named alongside Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor in a case over luxury goods allegedly purchased using misappropriated funds.
High Court Judge Wan Muhammad Amin Wan Yahya recorded a consent judgment during online proceedings, with liberty for the plaintiffs to refile the suit, according to a report published in The Edge today.
Shabnam, also known as Natasha Mirpuri, was represented by Messrs Sivananthan, which had earlier sought to discharge itself but reappeared in court as her solicitor on Wednesday.
The plaintiffs’ legal team included Datuk Lim Chee Wee and Nathalie Ker.
No order for costs was made, and the settlement terms remain confidential.
Filed in June last year, the suit alleged that funds from 1MDB and SRC were misappropriated and used to purchase luxury goods via offshore entities with no link to the companies’ investment goals.
Rosmah, 74, was accused of buying the goods from 48 vendors across 14 countries, with Shabnam allegedly involved in procuring them.
The plaintiffs sought recovery of the goods, a declaration that Rosmah received them without consideration in breach of trust, and an alternative claim of US$346.01 million (RM1.63 billion) in compensation.
They also applied for a court order to freeze Rosmah’s assets up to that amount.
The case followed a failed forfeiture bid by authorities after a 2018 raid on a Pavilion Residences condo owned by OBYU Holdings Sdn Bhd, where over 12,000 pieces of jewellery, hundreds of handbags, and luxury watches were seized.
Despite Rosmah’s undertaking not to dispose of the items, 1MDB and SRC later sought a Mareva injunction following new evidence of high-value purchases, including a 22.17-carat diamond and necklace worth US$27.3 million from designer Lorraine Schwartz.
Payments for the jewellery were allegedly made by associates of fugitive financier Low Taek Jho, including Eric Tan Kim Loong and Jho Low himself.
