Instead, officials at the fund diverted more than $3.5 billion over the next several years through a web of shell companies and bank accounts in Singapore, Switzerland, Luxembourg and the USA, the complaints allege.
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Prime Minister Najib Razak of Malaysia waits in his office in Putrajaya for a meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry in August 2015.
The Singapore announcement thickens the plot of the long-running scandal over billions of dollars missing from the Malaysia state fund 1MDB, coming a day after USA authorities moved to seize assets tied to the beleaguered fund, including funds related to the film “The Wolf of Wall Street”.
Civil lawsuits filed in federal court did not name Najib, referring instead to “Malaysian Official 1”.
The statement was issued following United States Attorney General Loretta Lynch’s announcement yesterday that a number of individuals were found to have been abusing 1MDB funds to siphon off some money into their personal bank accounts.
The lawsuits said $681-million from a 2013 bond sale by sovereign wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) was transferred to the account of “Malaysian Official 1”.
Others named in the complaints are Malaysian businessman Jho Low, who has been implicated in alleged mismanagement at 1MDB, Emirati businessman Khadem Abdulla Al-Qubaisi and Abu Dhabi-based financier Mohammed Ahmed Badawy Al-Husseiny.
The sensational case is shaping up as the largest asset recovery initiative by the United States government.
In Malaysia, however, the inquiries have put Najib under political pressure with critics led by former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammed calling for him to step down. “In this case, UBS self-reported the suspicious transactions and is working closely with regulators to address this matter”, UBS said in a statement.
The lawsuits filed Wednesday are seeking to recover assets belonging to several high-profile individuals closely linked to the state investment arm that was set up in 2009.
A key individual named in the official complaint by United States prosecutors is Riza Aziz, who is Najib’s stepson.
The Justice Department says the forfeiture demand is the largest single action it’s taken.
Malaysia’s attorney general said in January the money in Najib’s bank account was a political donation from the Saudi royal family.
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission cleared Najib of any criminal wrongdoing, saying $681 million was “contributions from donors, and not funds from 1MDB”.
Among the assets federal prosecutors want are the L’Ermitage Hotel in Beverly Hills, condominiums, penthouses and mansions in California and NY, and all the rights and interest that the film production company Red Granite Pictures own to the movie The Wolf of Wall Street.
Its portfolio has included power plants and other energy assets in Malaysia and the Middle East and real estate in Kuala Lumpur.
Red Granite said neither the company or Mr Aziz had done anything wrong and that “none of the funding it received was in any way illegitimate”.
Meanwhile former DAP leader Tunku Abdul Aziz Tunku Ibrahim said he could not understand why there was no communication between DOJ and 1MDB, and described the probe as a “modern-day wonder”.
“We will not allow the United States to become a playground for the corrupt”, said Eileen Decker, the USA attorney in LA.
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But opposition lawmaker Tony Pua said Malaysia has become a laughing stock with the US move as the government had insisted that no money was missing from the fund.
