LANGKAWI — Luxury yacht Equanimity which was linked to the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal, arrived here yesterday for temporary docking after sailing from Port Klang on Tuesday (November 13).
The 92-meter-long yacht was currently docked at the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) Naval Region 3 headquarters (Mawilla 3) jetty in Bukit Malut here, said Langkawi district police chief Supt Mohd Iqbal Ibrahim.
“Two Marine Police patrol boats, namely, PA45 and PSC18 with a RMN warship, KD Teguh, had escorted the yacht on the journey before arriving here at 10.35am,” he said.
He, however, did not mention how long the yacht would be in Langkawi and only stated it would be under RMN supervision.
The arrival of the luxury yacht also attracted the attention of many netizens after the photo taken at the RMN base jetty here went viral on social media.
On Oct 19, the High Court declared that Equanimity belonged to the Malaysia government and 1MDB as the beneficiary owner when its registered owner failed to be in court to claim the vessel and the government could now sell the yacht.
Then, on Oct 26, the Admiralty Court has approved the terms and conditions for the bidding process for the vessel to commence from Oct 29 until Nov 28.
Lawyer Ong Chee Kwan, who represented 1MDB, said those interested in bidding the vessel had to pay a deposit of US$1 million (RM4.17 million).
Equanimity, valued at US$ 250 million (RM1.42 billion), allegedly bought by a Malaysian businessman, Low Taek Jho or Jho Low using money stolen from scandal-tainted 1MDB.
It was seized in Bali, Indonesia in February before it was handed over to the Malaysian government in August.
— BERNAMA
