1MDB updates - U.S. Department of Justice targets $1 billion in assets in 1MDB embezzlement case

-
[Thank you to Shervin Majlessi, 
Senior Legal Adviser
, World Bank/United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Stolen Asset Recovery Initiative (StAR)
, Bangkok, Thailand, for sharing this information.]

The U.S. Department of Justice has issued a forfeiture complaint charging that multi-million dollar properties -- including a Manhattan penthouse and a Van Gogh painting -- were among the more than $1 billion in United States assets bought with money stolen from Malaysia’s 1MDB sovereign wealth fund. Read the New York Times story here: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/21/world/asia/1mdb-malaysia-us-assets-seized.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=second-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=1

The full text of the 136-page forfeiture complaint issued by the Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative of the U.S. Department of Justice is available here: https://www.justice.gov/opa/file/877166/download

Malaysia's Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Dr Salleh Said Keruak issued a statement on 21 July 2016 in response to the U.S. Department of Justice action, saying 1MDB has been the subject of "unprecedented politically-motivated attacks, the objectives of which were to unseat a democratically-elected head of government". Read the statement as published in New Straits Times: http://www.nst.com.my/news/2016/07/159658/statement-salleh-keruak-over-us-justice-dept-1mdb

Abu Kassim Mohamed, head of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, has confirmed that the agency is cooperating with the US Federal Bureau of Investigation in its investigations concerning funds linked to 1MDB. He clarifies that the cooperation is only about the possibility of money-laundering by a businessman said to have duped 1MDB. Read the Free Malaysia Today story here: http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2016/07/24/macc-fbi-link-is-about-money-laundering/

Popular posts from this blog

Middle East & North Africa - Ukraine - Sri Lanka

-
Corruption fuels ongoing conflict. The Middle East and North Africa has been in a decline on the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) for years. The region is also ranked as the "least peaceful region" according to the Global Peace Index. Transparency International (TI) argues that corruption, conflict, and security are profoundly intertwined. TI: https://www.transparency.org/en/news/cpi-2022-middle-east-north-africa-corruption-fuels-ongoing-conflict   [Opinion] Ukraine's corruption purge is setting the stage for private investment-driven recovery. Corruption is regarded as a key threat to the Ukrainian economy, depriving public budgets and discouraging foreign direct investments (FDI). The current administration has taken strong anti-corruption action, and the country has witnessed a significant increase in FDI in recent years, says author. DevDiscourse: https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/business/2353089-ukraines-corruption-purge-setting-stage-...
Read more

The Pacific - Nepal - Eastern Europe & Central Asia

-
[Blog] How are perceptions of corruption in seven small Pacific countries? Larger Pacific Island neighbors are often garnering the lion's share of attention both from researchers and policy makers. How are the experiences of corruption in countries like Tuvalu, Tokelau, Niue, the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), The Cook Islands, Palau, and Nauru? DevPolicy Blog: https://devpolicy.org/perceptions-of-corruption-in-seven-small-pacific-island-countries-20230223/   [Opinion] Two decades of new anti-corruption law in Nepal: Why it missed its mark. According to a Nepalese journalist, the Anti-Corruption law and Prevention of Corruption act of 2002 laid the foundation for numerous investigations, scandals, and court cases. To a large extent, they did however fail to enable significant conviction and return of assets. Online Khabar: https://english.onlinekhabar.com/anti-corruption-law-missing-target.html   [Blog] Growing security risks and authorit...
Read more

Global - Sub-Saharan Africa - Turkey & Syria

-
Invisible Trillions review: Global capitalism operates beyond the rule of law and threatens democracy. Raymond W. Baker's new book "Invisible Trillions" argues that "secrecy has become as important for corporations as transparent and taxable profits used to be". "Only radical improvements across the globe in financial transparency and accountability, and in regulatory capacity and integrity, can break this cycle of political decay and despair". The Conversation: https://theconversation.com/invisible-trillions-review-global-capitalism-operates-beyond-the-rule-of-law-and-threatens-democracy-199311   [Blog] The dynamics of violent extremism in sub-Saharan Africa. There is no better environment for the expansion of violent extremist groups than a vacuum in state authority. These groups begin to compete with the state and may even be initially attractive to communities weary of years of lawlessness, corruption, and chaos according to autho...
Read more