Heirs of late Sulu Sultan continue effort to seize Malaysian assets

KUALA LUMPUR - Lawyers representing the heirs of the late Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram II are understood to be in the process to submit an application to the Dutch court to seize Petroliam Nasional Bhd's (Petronas) assets, reports The Edge.

In the article, the news portal quoted a source who said the assets involved might be worth billions of ringgit.

The report stated that lead co-counsel Paul Cohen from the 4-5 Gray's Inn Square British law firm through a statement said he will submit an exequatur petition with the The Hague Court of Appeal, requesting recognition in The Netherlands of the Arbitral Award dated Feb 28, 2022.

According to the report, Cohen said he will formally notify the Malaysian government on the matter.

It was also reported that Petronas and the government were already informed of the plan to seize the assets.

In July, the heirs of the Sulu Sultan claimed US$14.92 billion (RM62.59 billion) from Malaysia and was reported to have seized the assets of two Petronas subsidiaries in Azerbaijan.

Both Petronas subsidiaries had already disposed of all their assets in Azerbaijan.

"Petronas wants to explain that both of the subsidiaries, Petronas Azerbaijan (Shah Deniz) S.à r.l. and Petronas South Caucasus S.à r.l. had disposed all assets in Azerbaijan Republic and the revenue from the disposal was repatriated accordingly," Petronas said in a statement on July 12.

The heirs of the Sulu Sultan's move followed the Malaysian government under then prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's decision to discontinue the annual RM5,300 payments to the descendents of the them since the 1878 lease between the Sultan of Sulu at the time Sultan Mohamet Jamal Al Alam and Baron de Overbeck and Alfred Dent.

Putrajaya stopped the payments to the Sultan of Sulu's heirs after the Lahad Datu incursion in 2013. - AWANI