The Court of Appeal unanimously ruled on August 12, 2026, that the Kuala Lumpur High Court lacks jurisdiction over 1MDB’s lawsuit against White & Case LLP, a UK law firm [1, 2, 3]. The panel found that the conditions for serving proceedings outside Malaysia required under the Courts of Judicature Act 1964 and Rules of Court 2012 were not met in this case [1, 2, 3].
The court also found that Patrick Mahony, a director of PetroSaudi International Ltd who is a foreign national residing outside Malaysia, could not serve as a valid anchor defendant to justify service out of jurisdiction [1, 2, 3]. Earlier consolidation of 1MDB's suit against White & Case with another suit involving Deutsche Bank and PetroSaudi International was overturned by the Court of Appeal, which described the consolidation application as a "tactical manoeuvre" by 1MDB [1, 2, 3]. Justice K. Muniandy said, "We agree with the appellant that the application for consolidation by the respondent was an unequivocal tactical manoeuvre" and that "1MDB failed to prove that Malaysia is clearly the forum convenient to hear this suit" [2].
1MDB filed the suit in 2024 seeking US$1.83 billion and US$33 million in losses from White & Case and Mahony, alleging fraud and conspiracy that caused losses to 1MDB [1, 2, 3]. The alleged wrongdoing relates to two transactions: a 2009 joint venture known as the Good Star phase with PetroSaudi and a 2010 restructuring of 1MDB's stake [1, 2, 3].
The writ was served out of jurisdiction on White & Case in the UK. White & Case applied to set aside the service and challenge Malaysian court jurisdiction, winning at the Court of Appeal [1, 2, 3]. 1MDB was ordered to pay RM130,000 in costs to White & Case [1, 2, 3].
1MDB plans to seek leave to appeal the decision at the Federal Court [1, 2, 3].
