[UPDATED] Ipic, Aabar PJS agree to pay US$1.8 bil to MoF Inc, 1MDB in settlement

KUALA LUMPUR – International Petroleum Investment Company (Ipic) and Aabar Investments PJS (Aabar PJS) have agreed to pay US$1.8 billion (RM8.1 billion) to the Minister of Finance Incorporated (MoF Inc) and 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).

This comes after MoF Inc and 1MDB reached a settlement regarding their dispute with the two companies.

In a statement today, the Finance Ministry said that with this settlement, Malaysia and Abu Dhabi look forward to continuing to “work together for the prosperity and economic benefit of both countries in the future”.

In November last year, a London judge gave the go-ahead to Malaysia to press its case against Abu Dhabi’s state-owned Ipic and Aabar PJS for their role in the multibillion-dollar 1MDB scandal.

The Malaysian government challenged a 2017 arbitration settlement between the two sides in the UK, arguing that Ipic and Aabar PJS were aware of fraud allegations against former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak at the time the deal was struck.

The London case is among a series of legal and regulatory probes around the world – including in the US and Malaysia – involving 1MDB.

Both sides are embroiled in the London legal fight with claims that Ipic and Aabar PJS were complicit in the 1MDB fraud, according to court filings.

Najib has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for misappropriating RM42 million from former 1MDB subsidiary SRC International Sdn Bhd. He is still facing three other trials relating to the 1MDB scandal.

He is also proceeding with his review application against the Federal Court’s decision to uphold his SRC International conviction and sentence. – The Vibes, February 27, 2023