The United States Justice Department is expected to act to seize assets linked to 1MDB in the largest asset seizure in US history, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported today.
This is part of their probe into billions of dollars allegedly siphoned from the state fund.
It is expected to exceed the previous record of US$850 million in assets which authorities sought to seize from three telecom firms in an unrelated case.
Citing sources, the journal said the Justice Department’s Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative is expected to file civil lawsuits seeking to seize the assets as soon as Wednesday morning in the US.
It claimed the seizure will involve properties and other assets bought with "money allegedly misappropriated from the Malaysian fund."
Malaysiakini cannot independently verify the WSJ report, and is attempting to contact 1MDB for its response.
WSJ had previously reported the money from 1MDB had been used to fund the movie "The Wolf of Wall Street", which was produced by a company headed by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's stepson Riza Aziz.
It claimed investigators in two countries believe US$155 million from the Malaysian state fund 1MDB, ended up in Red Granite Pictures in 2012 through a circuitous route involving offshore companies.
Red Granite Pictures had stressed that its funding is from legitimate sources.
WSJ also claimed that 1MDB funds had also been used by Riza to purchase two properties in New York and Los Angeles, allegedly belonging to Penang-born tycoon Low Taek Jho, who is most often referred to as Jho Low. - mkini
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