KUALA LUMPUR – Payment gateway company i-Serve Online Mall Sdn Bhd and 11 other applicants, including two individuals, have been granted leave for a second judicial review against Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), five of its officers, the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) and the National Anti-Financial Crime Centre (NFCC).
The judicial review centres on orders to seize the company’s accounts, when the subject of the authorities’ money laundering investigation was not even specified.
The leave was granted by Kuala Lumpur High Court judge Datuk Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh today, following AGC’s agreement on granting the company leave to challenge seizure orders issued by BNM against it and other applicants.
Previously on April 18, the court had granted leave for i-Serve to commence judicial review proceedings to challenge freeze orders issued by BNM. This affected several of its accounts since November last year.
Wan Ahmad Farid had ruled then the applicants had proven there is a prima facie case to challenge the legality of the freezing orders, as it did not state the subject of the money laundering investigation.
The court also determined that the applicants would be entitled to damages if the issuance of the freezing orders was unlawful.
Subsequently, BNM issued several seizure orders claiming that this has rendered i-Serve’s legal challenge to be academic, leading the company to file for a second judicial review against BNM, AGC, and NFCC.
According to court documents, i-Serve and its principals have also asserted that their business was destroyed, claiming that the seizure orders were defective and issued in bad faith following the earlier illegal freezing orders.
In November last year, i-Serve was raided and had its accounts frozen on suspicion of money laundering and other financial crimes.
BNM said in a statement that 45 bank accounts in seven banks were frozen and cash totalling RM118.7 million was seized in the raid.
It said the company, which was established in 2001, as well as its affiliates, are being investigated under the Financial Services Act 2013 (FSA) and the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 (Amla).
Among the other parties in the judicial review, the two individual applicants are shareholders Datuk Goh Hwan Hua and his wife Datin Neow Ean Lee.
The applicants are represented by Messrs Rosli Dahlan Saravana Partnership while Federal Counsel M. Kogilambigai is appearing for the AGC.
Recently, i-Serve was in the limelight as MYAirline Sdn Bhd, reportedly its sister company was granted an airline license by the Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom) to operate a low-cost full-service airline.
This might prove to pose challenges to AirAsia, which is currently facing financial difficulties. – The Vibes, August 11, 2022
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