Justice Department Sends a Chunk of Cash Back to Malaysia
On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it has returned another $300 million (about SG$424 million) to Malaysia, after clean‑up work on the infamous 1MDB scandal.
The 1MDB Back‑story
1MDB was created back in 2009 by the former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak. Over the years, it became a playground for corruption, with officials and their cronies siphoning off an estimated $4.5 billion before 2014. The tangled web stretched across the U.S., Switzerland, Singapore, Switzerland, and Luxembourg—making it one of the most sophisticated money‑laundering cases ever.
What the DOJ Has Been Doing
- Last year, the DOJ seized $1 billion worth of assets tied to the scandal—its biggest civil forfeiture in history.
- Some of these assets were already repatriated, but the U.S. postponed the latest transfer because of technical hitches and a whirlwind of political changes in Kuala Lumpur.
- The latest $300 million adds up to more than $600 million that the U.S. has helped bring back home.
“This payment shows the U.S. is still committed to tracking down, seizing, forfeiting, and returning assets that were part of this brazen scheme,” said Assistant Attorney‑General Brian Benczkowski.
Where the Money Was Stored
The recovered funds were hidden in no less than:
- High‑end real estate in Beverly Hills, New York, and London
- Millions of dollars in business investments linked to the fugitive financier Low Taek Jho—better known as Jho Low—who allegedly twisted 1MDB money into a global money‑mashup.
The DOJ is still on the case, combing every corner of the financial world to recover more stolen money. As they say, the game of “Where’s the Money?” is far from over.
