Malaysia gov't vows action if US 1MDB suit victorious

By P Prem Kumar

KUALA LUMPUR (AA) - A Malaysian federal minister has stressed that the government will take legal action against individuals named in recent civil lawsuits filed by the United States department of judiciary, if there is evidence that they "cheated the Malaysian people".

Paul Low, a minister in the prime minister's department in charge of integrity, said Thursday that Malaysia will seek those named in the suit if they are ruled to have defrauded state wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

"As these allegations make reference to 1MDB, the government takes the matter very seriously," Low said when delivering his keynote address at a symposium on governance in capital Kuala Lumpur on Thursday.

"Criminal prosecution must be instituted against all those named if the funds were stolen from us."

1MDB -- a brainchild of Prime Minister Najib Razak -- was established in 2009 to undertake key development projects in capital Kuala Lumpur and spur Malaysia's economic growth.

Since then, the fund has been hit by controversy revolving around the 50 billion Ringgit ($12.9 billion) in debts it has incurred since inception.

The U.S. department filed a civil suit last month to seize assets worth over $1 billion linked to what was described by the authority as an "international conspiracy to launder funds misappropriated" from 1MDB.

It described the case as the largest case ever brought by the Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative, which found more than $3.5 billion in 1MDB funds were allegedly misappropriated by high-level officials of the local state investment firm and their associates between 2009 and 2015.

The money was allegedly laundered through "complex transactions and fraudulent shell companies" with bank accounts in Singapore, Switzerland, Luxembourg and the U.S.

On Thursday, Low called on all Malaysian enforcement agencies to co-operate with foreign authorities investigating 1MDB, otherwise he said that would send the wrong message to the international community.

"Our enforcement agencies and the attorney-general must cooperate fully with all international agencies to deal with the matter in an appropriate manner in order to allay negative perception and restore the trust and confidence of the people for the government."

U.S. prosecutors allege that the 1MDB money was embezzled and laundered into the U.S., from where it was used to buy luxury properties, paintings by Vincent Van Gogh and Claude Monet, a $35 million jet, to pay off gambling debts in Las Vegas, to invest in EMI Music and to fund the production of 2013 Hollywood movie The Wolf of Wall Street.

Among those named in the lawsuit were the movie's co-producer, and Prime Minister Najib Razak's stepson Reza Aziz, a Malaysian businessman linked to Razak, Jho Low, and prominent Middle East businessmen Khadem Abdulla Al-Qubaisi and Mohammed Ahmed Badawy Al-Husseiny.

In July 2015, the Wall Street Journal and whistle blower site Sarawak Report released reports quoting documents, which they claimed to be from the ongoing 1MDB probe, claiming $700 million moved among 1MDB-linked government agencies, banks and entities before finally ending up in Razak’s personal accounts in five separate deposits.

Razak immediately said that he had not swindled funds for personal gain -- as alleged by political opponents -- be they from 1MDB, the finance ministry's SRC International -- a former 1MDB subsidiary -- or other entities.

A month later, the Attorney-General Chambers ruled that the funds were political donations to the Razak-led UMNO for the party to remain in power during the last general election.

Politicians within UMNO proudly declared that the funds came from "Middle East Royals" who wanted UMNO to retain control.

Razak, however, kept silent on the matter, saying political donations were confidential and he would only reveal the donors if opposition parties agreed to follow suit.

On Jan. 26, Malaysia’s Attorney General Apandi Ali ruled out wrongdoing by Razak in connection with the “political donation".

1MDB, meanwhile, has denied it was a party to the civil suit brought by the U.S. government.

It has also denied claims it had assets in the U.S., and underlined that it has not benefited from the various transactions described in the suit.