1MDB’s lawyer Siva Kumar Kanagasabai said the former prime minister applied for a stay of proceedings at the High Court here yesterday.

He told Bernama this after the online case management before Judicial Commissioner Atan Mustaffa Yussof Ahmad.

The court also granted 1MDB’s application to serve papers on Terrence Geh Choh Heng (former 1MDB finance director), Jasmine Loo Ai Swan (former 1MDB general counsel), Casey Tang Keng Chee (1MDB’s former executive director) and Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil (former CEO of SRC International Sdn Bhd) by way of substituted service.

Substituted service is a court-sanctioned alternative mode of service after attempts at personal service are unsuccessful.

The counsel said 1MDB’s former director of investments and chief investment officer Vincent Beng Huat Koh also filed his statement of defence and informed the court that he would file an application to strike out the suit.

“He has been given three weeks to do so. 1MDB has one month to file a reply to his defence,” he said, adding that the court set Dec 1 for further case management.

The US$8 billion suit is one of the 22 civil suits filed to claim over US$23 billion (RM95.63 bil) on behalf of 1MDB and its former subsidiary SRC International against several individuals allegedly involved in the financial scandal.

Named as defendants in this suit are Najib, Terence Geh, Jasmine Loo, Casey Tang, Vincent Beng, chief operating officer Radhi Mohamad, former director of investments Kelvin Tan Kay Jim and Nik Faisal.