The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has requested a US federal court to approve a plan to remove controversial businessman Jho Low's stake in Park Lane Hotel in Manhattan, New York.

This is part of the DOJ's efforts to seize Jho Low's assets, who was directly named in their 1MDB-related civil forfeiture suit filed last year, reported The Wall Street Journal (WSJ).

The motion, filed jointly in Los Angeles federal court with New York property developer Steven Witkoff, aims to stabilise the ailing Park Lane Hotel and set up a process for selling Low's stake in the property.

Low currently has ownership of 55 percent stake in the hotel, which the DOJ believes is one of the many assets purchased with misappropriated money from 1MDB.

WSJ said that the hotel was Low's splashiest investment in the US and the largest asset being sought by the DOJ in its case against him.

Low's spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment on this matter, WSJ added.

Low had previously denied wrongdoing in this matter and he has yet to be charged with a crime in connection with the 1MDB issue.

If the motion by the DOJ and Witkoff is approved, the plan would enable Witkoff and a group of investors to shore up the hotel's finances and move forward with its development plans, the daily said.

The court papers said the process of selling Low's "complex and valuable" stake would take many months.

"Unless the parties are able to commence that process, now the [hotel] faces default, loss of financing arrangements, and foreclosure, all at significant detriment to the value of the asset [and] the people harmed by the alleged crimes," the papers stated.