US goes after more than $1B taken from Malaysian fund

The Malaysian prime minister, who set up 1MDB in 2009 and oversees it, has previously denied wrong-doing. “The stated objective of the bond offerings was to allow 1MDB to raise money to invest in various energy assets of the Malaysian government and people”, Caldwell said.

Some of the money was diverted to a Singapore bank account controlled by Tan Kim Loong, an associate of Low, and “distributed for the personal benefit of various individuals”, the complaint alleged. Representatives of 1MDB could not immediately be contacted.

A person familiar with the continuing probe said the number eventually may rise to as high as $6 billion when a full accounting is completed by authorities in multiple countries.

“The simple answer is we do not have any control over Justice Department actions”, Ben Rhodes, deputy national security adviser, told Reuters in Yangon where he was visiting. The total amount of funds stolen from the state-run wealth fund is estimated to add up to around $4 billion.

It also puts Barack Obama in an uncomfortable position: the U.S. President hosted Najib for a round of golf in Hawaii in December 2014.

About $100 million of these funds were subsequently sent to a bank account linked to the production house and used to fund its operations, including “The Wolf of Wall Street”. The previous largest case in February sought to seize $850 million.

Much of that money was transferred to offshore companies, according to bank-transfer documents reviewed by the Journal. The money was a donation from the Saudi royal family and most was later returned, the government said.

The U.S. Justice Department said Lynch and other law enforcement officials would hold a news conference at 11:30 a.m. EDT/1530 GMT to announce the filing of civil forfeiture complaints seeking to recover more than $1 billion in assets.

Apandi said that no criminal offense had been committed.

The Justice Department wouldn’t say if Goldman Sachs is under investigation for its role in raising money for the Malaysian investment fund. A lawyer for Mr. Low declined to comment. The governments of Singapore, Switzerland and Malaysia have all investigated the fund as well. The idea was that 1MDB would invest in projects worldwide – and the profits would return to Malaysian citizens. BSI has said it is appealing.

So far, Najib has been able to shortstop more than a year and a half of allegations by both opposition figures and members of his own government, threatening accusers with sedition charges and firing or otherwise neutralizing government investigators as well.

There are also several multi-million dollar condos in New York City, including a penthouse at the Time Warner Center (which is also the New York home of CNN.) Plus, there’s an investment stake in the Park Lane Hotel off Central Park worth almost $250 million. The U.S. government’s allegations were that no reference to IPIC’s indirect guarantee was included on the second bond offering circular.