WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. prosecutors sued on Wednesday to seize more than $1 billion in assets they said were tied to money stolen from the Malaysian state development fund, which was overseen by the prime minister, and used to finance "The Wolf of Wall Street" film and to buy property and works of art.
Civil lawsuits filed in federal court did not name Malaysian premier Najib Razak, referring instead to "Malaysian Official 1." Some of the allegations against this official are the same as those in a Malaysian investigation over a $681 million transfer to his personal bank account.
The U.S. Department of Justice said $681 million from a 2013 bond sale by sovereign wealth fund 1MDB was transferred to the account of "Malaysian Official 1." He is described in court papers as "a high-ranking official in the Malaysian government who also held a position of authority with 1MDB."A source familiar with the investigation confirmed that "Malaysian Official 1" is Najib.
A spokesman for the prime minister said in a statement that 1MDB has been the subject of multiple inquiries in Malaysia.
"The Attorney General found that no crime was committed. 1MDB is still the subject of an investigation by the Royal Malaysia Police," the statement said.
The Malaysian government will cooperate fully with any lawful investigations, it said. Najib has consistently denied any wrongdoing.
The investigation is the largest set of cases brought by the U.S. Department of Justice's Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative, which seeks the forfeiture of the proceeds of foreign corruption. The previous largest case in February sought to seize $850 million.1MDB, which Najib founded in 2009 shortly after he came to office, is being investigated for money laundering in at least six countries, including the United States, Singapore and Switzerland.
1MDB said in a statement that "it is not a party to the civil suit, does not have any assets in the United States of America, nor has it benefited from the various transactions described in the civil suit."
The fund said it has not been contacted by the Justice Department or any other foreign agency on the matter.
HIGH-END PROPERTY, LUXURY GOODSMoney was stolen from the fund, moved through shell companies and hidden in the United States in purchases of high-end property and luxury items, U.S. prosecutors said.
The people and institutions named in the complaint have not been charged with crimes, but the government wants to seize assets, among them luxury properties in New York and California, Monet and Van Gogh paintings and a Bombardier jet.
The Justice Department said it will seek to return recovered funds to Malaysia. "The Malaysian people were defrauded on an enormous scale ..." FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe said at the briefing in Washington.
Malaysia's attorney general said in January that the money in Najib's bank account was a political donation from the Saudi royal family. Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir said in April funds wired into Najib's personal bank account were a "genuine" donation originating from Saudi Arabia.A spokesman for the Saudi embassy in Washington declined to comment on Wednesday.
The U.S. lawsuits seek to seize assets "involved in and traceable to an international conspiracy to launder money misappropriated from 1MDB" over a four-year period.
GOLDMAN SACHS ARRANGED TRANSACTION
One transaction targeted by prosecutors was a $3-billion bond offering in early 2013 that was "arranged by Goldman Sachs International," said U.S. Attorney Eileen Decker at the briefing. She is the chief prosecutor in central California.
More than a third of that money was misappropriated by corrupt officials, she said"Approximately $137 million of the pilfered money was spent to purchase works of art, including a $35 million work by Claude Monet," Decker said. She said funds diverted from one bond offering were also traced to the purchase of an interest in the Park Lane Hotel in New York. Prosecutors want forfeiture of about $250,000 invested in the hotel.
Goldman Sachs has not been accused of any wrongdoing.
"We helped raise money for a sovereign wealth fund that was designed to invest in Malaysia. We had no visibility into whether some of those funds may have been subsequently diverted to other purposes," a Goldman Sachs spokesman said. REUTERS
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