Malaysia has recovered US$8.57 million (RM39.1 million) worth of assets linked to fugitive financier Low Taek Jho and his family, in its continuing effort to reclaim funds misappropriated from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) said today the assets were retrieved with the assistance of Singapore police’s Commercial Affairs Department and stemmed from Low’s global civil forfeiture settlement with the United States Department of Justice. The money will be transferred into Malaysia’s 1MDB Asset Recovery Trust Account.
MACC added that other accounts belonging to Low’s family are expected to be repatriated soon. The latest recovery comes after JPMorgan Chase & Co agreed last month to pay RM1.4 billion in a separate 1MDB settlement, bringing Malaysia’s total recovered funds in the scandal to RM31.19 billion.
In June, the US Department of Justice announced that more than US$100 million of assets had been recovered under its civil forfeiture settlement with Low. In total, US authorities have secured over US$1.5 billion linked to him, with a significant portion already returned to Malaysia.
MACC credited the success of the recovery to the work of the Multi-Agency Task Force, comprising the commission, the Attorney General’s Chambers, Bank Negara Malaysia, the police and the National Anti-Financial Crime Centre, supported by international partners from the United Kingdom, United States, Switzerland, Singapore and France under Mutual Legal Assistance arrangements.
The commission said the government remains committed to repatriating all 1MDB-linked assets and ensuring accountability for individuals and institutions involved in the multibillion-ringgit scandal.