The department has named Riza Aziz, the step-son of Prime Minister Najib Razak, and his associate, Jho Low, as people who helped divert funds raised overseas that were originally meant for investments in Malaysia and the Middle East.
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Those are two of the 11 pieces of real estate the U.S. government is trying to seize as part of an investigation into the alleged misappropriation of $3.5 billion from a Malaysian state fund, according to a court filing Wednesday by the U.S. Justice Department. 1MDB was overseen by Mr Najib as head of its advisory board.
A shell company registered in the British Virgin Islands, Tanore Finance Corporation, allegedly purchased a $367,000 work by famed Culver City artist Ed Ruscha using some of the laundered funds, according to the complaint.
The assets the Justice Department sought to seize include the rights to The Wolf of Wall Street, high-end real estate in New York City, Los Angeles and London, artwork by Vincent van Gogh and Claude Monet, and a jet.
The sensational case is shaping up as the largest asset recovery initiative by the USA government.
“It’s not wise for us to make assumptions until the (legal) process is completed”, Najib said in a video recorded by the Malay Mail Online today.
As the United States faces domestic fears over national security, Federal Bureau of Investigation director Andrew McCabe says the case is extremely significant.
Malaysia’s attorney general said in January the money in Najib’s bank account was a political donation from the Saudi royal family. Low had said he was an unofficial adviser to 1MDB occasionally. The official isn’t accused of wrongdoing.
Najib was speaking to reporters on Thursday, a day after the U.S. Justice Department said it has initiated action to seize more than $1 billion of the stolen money that was allegedly used to buy assets in the U.S.by people close to Najib.
The government will give its full cooperation to global parties investigating issues surrounding 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
The story about the US lawsuits made headlines around the world, but not in Malaysia, where major local newspapers, controlled directly or indirectly by the government, and the state news agency largely ignored it on Thursday.
He has always denied any wrongdoing.
The US is seeking to freeze assets and profits derived from the film Wolf of Wall Street which Red Granite produced. Nominated for five Academy Awards, the film made some $400 million at worldwide box offices.
Instead, officials at the fund diverted more than $3.5bn over the next four years through a web of shell companies and bank accounts in Singapore, Switzerland, Luxembourg and the U.S., according to the justice department complaint.
Red Granite said on Wednesday that none of the funding it received four years ago was illegitimate and nothing the company or Riza did was wrong.
A 1MDB statement stressed that the company was not a party to the U.S. suit while offering no comment on the alleged embezzlement of its funds.
“Malaysian authorities have led the way in investigations into 1MDB”.
Prosecutors also named a fourth person in the case, former Abu Dhabi government representative Khadem Al Qubaisi.
The joint statement by Singapore’s central bank, police and attorney-general marked the first time authorities in the city-state revealed detailed findings since launching investigations past year.
Other misappropriated funds from 1MDB were transferred to the co-founder of PetroSaudi, a company that had a joint venture deal with 1MDB, and thereafter to the high-ranking official identified only as “Malaysian Official 1”.
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The Communications and Multimedia Minister said the investigation carried out by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) was based on reports and the laws of that country.
