US returns US$300 million in stolen 1MDB funds to Malaysia
- The money comes from assets forfeited last year by financier Jho Low in a Los Angeles federal settlement, including paintings by Vincent van Gogh
- Prosecutors allege that he used money from 1MDB for bribes and kickbacks to foreign officials, and to pay for luxury real estate, art and jewellery
The money comes from assets forfeited last year by financier Jho Low in a Los Angeles federal settlement. The settlement covered assets that included a Manhattan penthouse, a Beverly Hills mansion, a Beverly Hills boutique hotel, a luxury jet and paintings by Vincent van Gogh and Claude Monet.
Low and his family agreed to forfeit more than US$700 million in assets and to date, the US has returned or assisted Malaysia in recovering more than US$600 million, according to a US Department of Justice statement.
Low, who is also known as Low Taek Jho, did not acknowledge any wrongdoing in the civil settlement. However, he remains a fugitive from criminal charges filed in New York that accuse him of bribery and money laundering.
Low was a consultant for the 1Malaysia Development Berhad state fund. Prosecutors allege that he used money from it for bribes and kickbacks to foreign officials, to pay for luxury real estate, art and jewellery in the United States and to help finance Hollywood films, including The Wolf of Wall Street.