South China Morning Post
Advertisement
Advertisement
Malaysia
Get more with myNEWS
A personalised news feed of stories that matter to you
Learn more
A 1 Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) poster at a construction site in Kuala Lumpur. The US has recovered or assisted Malaysia in recovering nearly US$1.1 billion in assets from the fund so far. Photo: AFP
AsiaSoutheast Asia

Malaysia 1MDB scandal: US seeks assets in UK, movie posters from Najib stepson Riza Aziz

  • US authorities traced US$300 million in the UK to a line of credit for oil drilling extended by Petroleos de Venezuela SA to PetroSaudi Oil Services
  • Promotional movie posters worth over US$4 million bought by former PM Najib Razak’s stepson, Hollywood producer Riza Aziz, are also being sought
Malaysia
Reuters
Reuters
Why you can trust SCMP
The US Department of Justice is seeking to recover US$300 million in additional assets allegedly associated with the multibillion-dollar 1MDB scandal, assets it has traced to an escrow account in the United Kingdom, the agency said on Wednesday.
Malaysian and US authorities estimate US$4.5 billion was stolen from 1MDB in an elaborate scheme that spanned the globe and implicated high-level officials in the fund, former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak, executives at US bank Goldman Sachs, and others.
Najib has denied wrongdoing, but was convicted in July 2020 on one charge of abuse of power, three charges of money laundering and three charges of criminal breach of trust. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison and fined US$49 million.

In a complaint filed in the Central District of California on Wednesday, the Justice Department said the US$300 million was traceable to a line of credit extended by Venezuela’s state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA to Saudi’s PetroSaudi Oil Services in connection with an oil drilling venture.

The companies are already embroiled in a legal dispute over the funds which the Malaysian High Court has sought to freeze with cooperation from the British authorities.

The Justice Department said it was also seeking four dozen promotional movie posters that Riza Aziz, a Hollywood producer and Najib’s stepson, acquired with more than US$4 million in funds traceable to assets embezzled from 1MDB.
Prosecutors dropped money-laundering charges against Aziz in May after reaching a deal in which he agreed to help authorities recover 1MBD-related assets.

Wednesday’s complaint brings the total value of assets the United States has sought to recover in relation to the scandal to US$2.1 billion – the largest ever asset recovery action brought by the agency.

So far the United States has recovered or assisted Malaysia in recovering nearly US$1.1 billion in assets.

Malaysia said last year it is working to locate at least US$4.3 billion in assets siphoned from 1Malaysia Development Berhad.

Former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak is seen arriving at court in Kuala Lumpur. Photo: EPA-EFE
In August, Malaysia and Goldman Sachs signed an agreement to finalise the bank’s US$3.9 billion settlement over the 1MDB scandal.

The deal announced in July called for Goldman to pay US$2.5 billion while guaranteeing the return of US$1.4 billion of 1MDB assets seized by authorities around the world, in exchange for Malaysia dropping charges against the bank.

Additional reporting by Bloomberg

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: US seeks to recover US$300m in assets from British accountln
Post