The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has repatriated around $300m (£239m, €274m) to Malaysia in funds misappropriated from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
The Malaysian investment development fund was caught up in a money laundering scandal which saw funds pass through financial institutions in several jurisdictions; including the US, Switzerland, Singapore and Luxembourg.
Combined with other sums that the department transferred to Malaysia in May 2019, the US has returned or assisted Malaysia in recovering over $600m of money misappropriated from 1MDB.
“The repatriation of these stolen funds to the citizens of Malaysia is the result of the tireless efforts of prosecutors and federal agents to prevent foreign kleptocrats and their associates from using the United States as a playground where they can enjoy the fruits of their pilfered wealth,” said Nick Hanna, US attorney of the central district of California.
“The amount of money stolen from the people of Malaysia is staggering, and we have been relentless in recovering assets that always should have been used for their benefit.”
Civil forfeiture
1MDB was created by the government of Malaysia to promote economic development in Malaysia through global partnerships and foreign direct investment, and its funds were intended to be used for improving the well-being of the Malaysian people.
In 2019, the US District Court for the Central District of California reached a settlement in its civil forfeiture cases against the assets acquired by Low Taek Jho, aka Jho Low, and his family located in the US, the UK and Switzerland.
According to the civil forfeiture complaints, from 2009-2015, more than $4.5bn in assets belonging to the fund were allegedly misappropriated by high-level officials of 1MDB and their associates, including Low, through a criminal conspiracy involving international money laundering and bribery.
Low denies any wrongdoing, and the settlement with the DOJ does not constitute any admission of guilt or wrongdoing on the part of Low.
