Addressing the Global Forum on Asset Recovery hosted by the US and the UK, US Attorney General Sessions on Dec 4 called the 1MDB scandal “kleptocracy at its worst” and said the DoJ “is working to provide justice to the victims of this alleged scheme”.
A transcript of extracts from his speech focussing on foreign corruption:
Over the next few minutes, I’d like to discuss a few of the ways the United States is cooperating with our law enforcement partners across the globe and achieving successes that benefit all of us.
First of all, we have seized or restrained $3.5 billion worth of corruption proceeds involved in money laundering offences.
Since 2004, the United States has returned millions in corruption proceeds to compensate victims.
That includes approximately $119 million to the people of Italy, $115 million to the people of Kazakhstan, more than $20 million to the people of Peru, and millions more to the people of Nicaragua, South Korea, and Taiwan.
That recovery has only been possible because of cooperation with our foreign law enforcement partners.
You may be familiar with some of these cases. For example, nearly half of the $3.5 billion in corruption proceeds we have restrained is related to just one enforcement action.
That action was related to a Malaysian sovereign wealth fund known as 1MDB.
1MDB was created by the Malaysian government to promote long-term economic development for the benefit of the Malaysian people. But allegedly corrupt officials and their associates reportedly used the funds for a lavish spending spree: $200 million for real estate in Southern California and New York. $130 million in artwork. $100 million in an American music label. Not to mention a $265 million yacht.
In total, 1MDB officials allegedly laundered more than $4.5 billion in funds through a complex web of opaque transactions and fraudulent shell companies with bank accounts in countries ranging from Switzerland and Singapore to Luxembourg and the United States. This is kleptocracy at its worst.
Today, the US Department of Justice is working to provide justice to the victims of this alleged scheme.
As a prosecutor for 14 years, I know firsthand that the best evidence is often simple things like bank records, airplane records, and telephone records.
If they’re not properly shared between nations, then, in many cases, justice cannot be done. It is essential that we continue to improve that kind of sharing.
That’s why we must all do more to expedite mutual legal assistance requests. These requests ensure that prosecutors have the evidence that they need to bring criminals to justice.
In response to the increasing volume and complexity of legal assistance requests, the Department of Justice has taken two actions that are critically important.
First, we have increased staffing levels at the Department’s Office of International Affairs, or OIA. Second, OIA has created two new units dedicated to reviewing and executing foreign requests. As a result, OIA has significantly reduced its backlog by thousands of cases, despite receiving 16 percent more requests in fiscal 2016 than in fiscal 2015.
These are important steps. But we can and must do more to help one another.
I challenge all of you to devote more resources to quickly and effectively reducing your backlog too. You know how serious these cases can be. There is no time to waste. We will do our part for you, but we need to work together.
All of us need to do a better job of properly evaluating extradition requests, and it is unacceptable for nations to flatly refuse to extradite individuals who have committed crimes in another country. The United States seeks to participate in economic activity worldwide.
We believe we have a strong record of fairly and professionally prosecuting global criminal activity and we will work hard to assist our global partners in their efforts to crack down on fraud and abuse. But we will insist on cooperation from our global partners.
Many of the countries in this room have honoured our extradition requests, allowing fugitives to undergo the judicial process in the United States. I want to thank you for that. We are also working with you and plan to do so faster and more effectively in the future.
Cooperation works – and at the Department of Justice, we know that firsthand.
Thank you all for your ongoing efforts against crime. We fully respect the importance of borders. Indeed, borders are an essential component of sovereignty, but if we work together – respectful of each other’s rights – we can far more effectively stop transnational criminals.
And we must do so. I look forward to our work together – and to many more successes in the future.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQH7chCg5Tc