U.S. seeks to recover $300 million more in 1MDB assets held in Britain
The U.S. Department of Justice is seeking to recover $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 U.S. authorities estimate $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 U.S. bank Goldman Sachs, and others. Najib has denied wrongdoing.
In a complaint filed in the Central District of California
on Wednesday, the Justice Department said the $300 million was traceable to a
line of credit extended by Venezuela’s state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela
S.A. 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 Razak’s
stepson, acquired with more than $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
1MDB-related assets.
Wednesday’s complaint brings the total value of assets the
United States has sought to recover in relation to the scandal to $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 $1.1
billion in assets.
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