MORE THAN RM29 million in funds and assets related to 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) have been successfully recovered by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) since 2019.
This success was made possible due to the cooperation of the commission and the 1MDB Asset Recovery Special Task Force, as well as foreign agencies that have helped out, MACC said today.
In total, the amount that has been recovered comes to RM23,911,460.90.
It explained in a statement that the money and assets were obtained through a forfeiture process, including in courts, and also voluntary surrender by five individuals.
The money and assets have been subsequently returned to the Malaysian government.
The success of retrieving this money was the outcome of a complicated process of tracking and retrieving 1MDB funds that was carried out by the MACC’s Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Division last year, and most recently on February 5.
“Funds amounting to RM556,275.64 were successfully obtained on August 30, 2023 from 1MDB official, Nurzahid Taib, who had received the 1MDB funds for the Maximus Project and the Catalyze Project that were in the account of Turquoise Coast Offshore Incorporated, in which this individual has an interest.
“This money was obtained through an account release order under Section 60 of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001 (Amla) on June 26 last year,” the agency said.
On September 29 last year, funds amounting to RM4,551,399.45 were successfully returned to the Malaysian government through a voluntary handover by Datuk Amhari Effendi, the special officer to former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, through a money transfer from BSI Bank Switzerland, the MACC said.
Then, on November 8 last year, the Kuala Lumpur High Court had ordered the forfeiture of three condominium units valued in total at RM7.05 million belonging to Najib’s foreign affairs advisory officer, Mohammad Kamal Yan Yahaya, it added.
“This individual received 1MDB funds through the Magnolia Project, the Maximus Project and the Catalyze Project into the Spring Elite International Limited company account at BSI Bank, Singapore, in which he had an interest.”
The three asset recovery processes were undertaken following the trial of former Goldman Sachs bank officer Ng Chong Hwa, better known as Roger Ng, at the US Federal Court in Brooklyn, New York, in February 2022 for alleged complicity in the embezzlement of 1MDB funds, it explained.
“Following this, on February 5, the Kuala Lumpur High Court ordered the forfeiture of assets belonging to two associates of Low Taek Jho or Jho Low, namely Jerome Lee Tak Loong and his wife Koay Ying Ying, in Malaysia and Singapore worth RM11,753,785.81.”
The application on the forfeitures was made under Section 56 and Section 64 of Amla, it said. – The Vibes, February 8, 2024
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