The United States has moved to confiscate luxury properties across affluent areas of NY and California as part of an investigation into Malaysian state-run fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad’s (1MDB) “misappropriate” finances, according to a court filing Wednesday by the Department of Justice.
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A source familiar with the investigation confirmed that “Malaysian Official 1” was Najib.
The hashtag #MalaysianOfficial1 was trending on Thursday.
In total, the 1MDB fund amassed approximately $11 billion dollars worth of debt.
The proceedings now starting in America relate only to the seizure of assets, and do not amount to criminal charges against the individuals alleged to be involved.
The Justice Department says it wants to seize some $1.3 billion of that money, which officials were able to trace through the USA financial system.
Prosecutors are seeking to seize film royalties from a production company owned by Najib’s stepson, Red Granite, including those generated by “The Wolf of Wall Street”.
“To Red Granite’s knowledge, none of the funding it received four years ago was in any way illegitimate and there is nothing in today’s civil lawsuit claiming that Red Granite knew otherwise”, the statement read.
“We should not jump to conclusions before the process is completed”.
“We have to establish facts first”. We do not want any party to assume that the government does not adhere to the principles of good governance.
He said he viewed the US initiative seriously and that his government will “fully cooperate”.
“To date there has been no evidence from any investigation conducted by any law enforcement agencies in various jurisdictions which shows that money has been misappropriated from 1MDB”, Mohamed Apandi Ali said in a statement. Najib has insisted the funds were a legal political donation from members of the royal family of Saudi Arabia.
He added that questions also needed to be asked regarding the competency of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), Auditor-General as well as the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in discharging their duties.
US officials said the jet cost $35 million and the real estate included a house in Beverly Hills and a penthouse in New York City.
The U.S. action may strain its ties with Malaysia, an ally in the fight against terrorism, but there should not be any long-term implications, he said. “This is a separate issue, involving individuals”, he told reporters at the Thursday event.
When the U.S. Justice Department announced the lawsuits, Najib was attending an open house dinner from where he posted pictures on his Twitter account, laughing and shaking hands with the guests.
At home, former premier Mahathir Mohamad led a chorus of opposition voices calling on Najib to step down. Subsequent reports said the money originated from 1MDB and may have exceeded $1 billion, which 1MDB denies. The media group’s publishing permits were suspended for three months. They did not identify 1MDB in that announcement, though Swiss authorities did in a related move against BSI. The previous largest case in February sought to seize $850 million.
1MDB released a brief statement stressing that it was not a party to the U.S. suit, but offered no comment on the alleged embezzlement of its funds.
The U.S. Justice Department lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles, claims officials close to Najib diverted more than $3.5 billion from the fund from 2009 to 2013, using money intended for economic development projects in Malaysia to buy the U.S. properties and pay for “lavish lifestyles”.
Sperately, Swiss prosecutors said on Wednesday they were helping their counterparts in the United States in an investigation into cash allegedly stolen from 1MDB. She is the chief prosecutor in central California.
Goldman Sachs has not been accused of any wrongdoing. That cooperation and the action we are taking today should send a message to kleptocrats and other criminals that the United States is not a safe haven for their stolen money, and that they can not evade law enforcement authorities simply by laundering money through multiple jurisdictions and through a web of nominees, shell corporations and other legal structures created to frustrate justice.
Its portfolio has included power plants and other energy assets in Malaysia and the Middle East and real estate in Kuala Lumpur.
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Then there’s Khadem Abdullah al-Qubaisi of the United Arab Emirates.
