High Court judge Nik Hasmat Nik Mohamad held that Ezam did not have the legal standing to file the suit on behalf of Malaysian citizens as he was neither a director nor a shareholder in 1MDB.
In her oral judgment, Nik Hasmat also said that Ezam’s action was frivolous, vexatious and an abuse of the court process.
Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, former Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua, former minister Zaid Ibrahim and Gerakan Anak Muda Tolak Najib (Ganti) also had their suits struck out by the High Court in Kuala Lumpur since last year.
Ezam, who was present in court, later told reporters that he would not appeal against the decision.
“Let the people decide about the matter in the general election,” he said.
Nik Hasmat also ordered Ezam to pay costs totalling RM63,000 to the government, 1MDB and its present and former directors.
On April 14 last year, Ezam, a former Umno member and PKR Youth chief, filed the suit against Najib and 15 others to demand that they return at least US$3.657 billion to the sovereign fund.
He claimed that the money, borrowed by 1MDB, was lost due to breach of fiduciary duty by these individuals.
He said the directors, who held their posts between 2009 and 2016, were named as defendants because they lost the money and did not take steps to recover it.
Since Najib was also the finance minister, Ezam contended that the government would not take any legal action to recover the money.
The 13 former directors he named were Shahrol Azral, Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah, Kamal Mohd Ali, Norazman Ayob, Che Lodin Wok Kamaruddin, Ismee Ismail, Ong Gim Huat, Ashvin Jethanand Valiram, Arul Kanda Kandasamy, Mohd Hazem Abd Rahman @ Mohamed, Mohd Bakke Salleh, Azlan Mohd Zainol and Tengku Rahimah Puteri Mahmud Shah.
In his statement of claim, Ezam said between 2009 and 2011, eight directors transferred US$1.03 billion to Good Star Limited Sdn Bhd (GSL) for use in a joint venture with PetroSaudi International Ltd (PSI).
He said in 2012, they transferred US$1.367 billion to Aabar Investment PJS Ltd, a company incorporated in the British Virgin Islands.
The company has an almost identical name to Aabar Investment PJS (without the “Ltd”), a subsidiary of International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC), which was supposed to receive the money.
Ezam said that in 2013, seven directors paid US$1.26 billion to Tanore Finance Corporation (TFC) for a joint venture with Aabar to establish Abu Dhabi Malaysia Investment Company Ltd (Admic).
1MDB and the government had, as a result, suffered losses and damages, he said.
Najib filed an application to annul the suit, arguing Ezam had no legal standing to bring the lawsuit and that he (Najib) had been wrongly made a party to the action.
The government, 1MDB and the directors separately filed their striking-out applications.
Ezam fails to stop Najib, ex-1MDB directors nullifying his lawsuit