Justice Arief Emran Arifin will take over conduct of the proceedings from fellow High Court judge Atan Mustaffa Yussof Ahmad, reports The Edge.

The lawsuit also names 1MDB’s ex-CEO Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil and former executive director of business development Casey Tang, both of whose whereabouts cannot be traced.

Other defendants in the suit are the company’s former deputy chief financial officer Terence Geh, ex-general counsel Jasmine Loo, ex-chief investment officer Vincent Beng, ex-chief operating officer Radhi Mohamad and ex-director of investments Kelvin Tan.

Arief is the son of former chief justice Arifin Zakaria, and, before joining the judiciary, was a partner at Wong & Partners, which previously acted for 1MDB.

He previously presided over a RM42 million suit brought by SRC International Sdn Bhd against Najib and, in 2022, issued a Mareva injunction freezing Najib’s assets. The decision was upheld on appeal.

Trial of the suit is presently ongoing before Justice Raja Ahmad Mohzanuddin Shah Raja Mohzan.

Meanwhile, a separate US$3.78 billion lawsuit brought by 1MDB against Low Taek Jho (Jho Low), several of his family members and an associate will also get a new judge following the transfer of Justice Hayatul Akmal Abdul Aziz from the civil division of the Kuala Lumpur High Court to its special powers division earlier this month.