The superyacht has not left Bali waters since the seizure on Feb 28. — Reuters pic

KUALA LUMPUR, May 30 — The lawyers representing the registered owner and claimants of the superyacht Equanimity previously tied to billionaire Low Taek Jho have filed an appeal against last month’s court order granting the US government custody over the vessel.

Malaysiakini reported that a notice of the appeal at the US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals was filed on Monday at the California Central District Court — the venue where the civil forfeiture suit for the Equanimity is pending.

“Please take notice that Equanimity (Cayman) Ltd, Equanimity Crew (Cayman) Ltd, Equanimity Lifestyle (Cayman) Ltd, Equanimity Operations & Maintenance (Cayman) Ltd, claimants in this above-captioned case, hereby appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from an order granting the motion for protective order entered in this action on the 15th day of May, 2018,” the notice read.

On May 15, California district judge Dale S. Fischer ruled in the US Justice Department’s favour, ordering custody of the ship be turned over to the US government, and for the vessel to be brought to the US.

It also instructed for the custody order to be stayed for 30 days to allow the claimants time to file an appeal before the order could take effect.

In the filing seeking a stay on the custody order, lawyers acting for the claimants noted that the 30-day stay granted by Fischer is set to expire on June 15.

In their appeal, the lawyers acting for Low or commonly known as Jho Low reiterated their argument that the order would violate Indonesian sovereignty and US laws concerning seizure of assets in civil forfeiture suits as it does not allow for repatriation as a form of relief that the court could order because it is not mentioned in the statute.

The lawyers have also filed for a stay on the California court’s custody order pending the disposal of the appeal after the US Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a civil forfeiture suit against Equanimity on June 15 last year, claiming that the US$250 million (RM996 million) vessel was purchased using the proceeds of misappropriation of 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) that had been channelled through the US financial system.

“Claimants currently face irreparable harm including deprivation of their unique property, as well as the immediate danger posed to the current value and future sale price of that property.

“Additionally, if the request for a stay were heard according to a regular motion timetable, the original 30-day stay granted by this court would expire before the motion could be decided and before claimants’ appeal can be heard, automatically making the government the custodian and requiring claimants to tender the vessel to the government before claimants’ appeal could be heard, which could moot claimants’ appeal,” it said.

Following the stay order filed, the DOJ filed a motion opposing the stay as this would not be in the public interest.

On March 27, almost a month after the vessel was seized by Indonesian authorities acting on the FBI’s request, the DOJ filed an application to take custody of the vessel in order to bring it back to the US.

The DOJ claimed that the vessel’s crew were beholden to Jho Low and had previously attempted to evade seizure, and hence could not be trusted to bring the vessel to the US even under a court order.

However, an Indonesian court ruled that the seizure of the vessel was invalid due to procedural impropriety and ordered the Indonesian police to return the vessel to its claimants. The superyacht has not left Bali waters since the seizure on Feb 28.