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US returns another RM720m in 1MDB-linked funds
The US has returned another US$156 million (RM721.4 million) in funds originally misappropriated from 1MDB.
In the statement today, the US Embassy in Kuala Lumpur said this is the fourth instalment of funds recovered from 1MDB-related asset seizures and subsequently returned to the Malaysian government, bringing the total to US$1.4 billion.
The US has returned another US$156 million (RM721.4 million) in funds originally misappropriated from 1MDB.
In the statement today, the US Embassy in Kuala Lumpur said this is the fourth instalment of funds recovered from 1MDB-related asset seizures and subsequently returned to the Malaysian government, bringing the total to US$1.4 billion.
US Ambassador to Malaysia Edgard D Kagan during a meeting on Tuesday confirmed the matter to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
“We are very happy that this fourth tranche of assets from the Justice Department investigation is being transferred back to Malaysia.
“This extraordinary sum of money is going back to the people of Malaysia where it belongs and where it can finally be used for its original intended purpose - to better the lives of everyday Malaysians,” Kagan said.
Since 2016, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) initiated a series of civil forfeiture suits aimed at clawing back assets believed to be the proceeds of misappropriation at 1MDB and its former subsidiary SRC International.
The lawsuits were made under the Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative aimed at deterring kleptocrats from abusing the US financial system.
READ MORE: KINIGUIDE | What's in DOJ's third and latest bombshell?
The DOJ had alleged in 2017 that over US$4.5 billion had been misappropriated from 1MDB, of which US$1.7 billion had been routed through its financial system.
Among the assets targeted for forfeiture included luxury properties, artworks, diamond jewellery, and cash said to belong to various alleged conspirators, as well as a private jet and a superyacht said to belong to the alleged 1MDB mastermind Low Taek Jho.
Apart from the US, other authorities such as those in Singapore and Switzerland have also returned funds recovered from the embezzlement.
These efforts were bolstered when former 1MDB lawyer Jasmine Loo returned to Malaysia in 2023 after years on the run and helped police identify RM93.2 million worth of 1MDB-linked properties.
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