Among the assets purchased were works of art valued at $137 million, including a $35 million painting by Claude Monet, US Attorney and California Chief Prosecutor Eileen Decker said.
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A US Justice Department complaint filed in federal court this week directly contradicts repeated assertions by the Malaysian prime minister, Najib Razak, about the origins and objective of hundreds of millions of dollars that ended up in his personal bank accounts.
The US lawsuit renewed calls from Mr Najib’s detractors – from opposition lawmakers to former premier Mahathir Mohamad – for him to quit.
He said the government will cooperate in any lawful investigations and that “if any wrongdoing is proven, the law will be enforced without exception”.
The U.S. action is a blow to Najib but analysts said he remained politically secure after moving a year ago to strengthen his grip on power by replacing critics in his government and party with men loyal to him. “We will comment further when the investigations are complete”, said Falcon senior communications manager Urs Fehr in a written statement.
“We have to establish facts first.
I want to say categorically that we are serious about good governance”.
Najib has consistently denied any wrongdoing.
1MDB, which was founded by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak in 2009 shortly after he came to office, is being investigated for money-laundering in several countries.
Najib reiterated this when asked if he was shocked to hear that US$3.5 billion had been allegedly siphoned out of the state-owned firm by the co-conspirators.
Malaysia’s The Edge media group previous year reported that businessman Low Taek Jho – a family friend of Najib – and PetroSaudi International had cheated Malaysia of $1.83 billion through an aborted joint venture with 1MDB in 2009.
The US lawsuits refer to a “Malaysian Official 1” who is described as a high-ranking government official who received some of the misappropriated funds, including $681m in March 2013.
The Wall Street Journal and Malaysia’s Sarawak Report online news reported in July 2015 that almost $700 million in Najib’s personal bank accounts have been traced to entities linked to 1MDB. The total amount of funds stolen from the state-run wealth fund is estimated to total up to $4 billion.
Riza is the founder of Red Granite Pictures, which produced the Oscar-nominated 2013 movie “The Wolf of Wall Street” directed by Martin Scorsese.
“This is an indictment of the involvement of the prime minister and his government in the mismanagement and, well, stealing. of money that belongs to the people”, he said.
The assets marked for seizure are held by Mr Riza Aziz, his stepson, businessman Jho Low, who is a confidant of Mr Najib, and two former Abu Dhabi government representatives. “The investigation is on money laundering by three individuals”, he told reporters after opening the Pacific Asia Communication Association (Paca) convention at Universiti Putra Malaysia here.
The US Justice Department’s filing emphatically endorses longstanding claims that 1MDB was used by corrupt Malaysian figures as a “personal bank account”, in the words of US Attorney General Loretta Lynch.
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“Najib supporters placed in key positions across government (including in the Attorney General’s office and the anti-corruption commission) will continue to shield the prime minister from any probe by blocking access to information or evidence that could implicate him”, the note said.
