KUALA LUMPUR, April 15 — Malaysia has received US$620 million (US$1 = RM4.32) to-date from the United States since the 1Malaysia Development Bhd’s asset recovery efforts were initiated in June 2018, Minister of Finance Tengku Datuk Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz said today.
Among the funds were US$57 million from the proceeds of the settlement with Red Granite Pictures (credited in March 2019), US$137 million from the sale proceeds of Jho Low’s interest in the Park Lane Hotel (credited in April 2019) and US$126 million from the judicial sale of the luxury yacht, Equanimity, by the Malaysian Admiralty Court (credited into the trust account in December 2019).
The latest tranche of US$300 million, credited in April is made up of monies or assets linked to 1MDB that were recovered and forfeited by, or surrendered to the US Department of Justice (DOJ), he said.
“The recovery of 1MDB-related assets is still ongoing, and the Ministry of Finance will continue to extend its fullest cooperation to all domestic and offshore investigating entities to ensure equally positive outcomes from these efforts in future,” he said in a statement here, today.
Tengku Zafrul conveyed the government’s appreciation to the US Government and the DOJ for their efforts in recovering these assets which rightfully belong to Malaysia.
“On behalf of the Government, I would like to express our gratitude to the US Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, and in particular, Her Excellency Ambassador Kamala Shirin Lakhdhir, with whom the MOF and the Attorney-General Chambers have been in constant contact in recent weeks.”
“The deeply collaborative spirit of negotiations had facilitated the swift repatriation of the monies back to the Malaysian people. We would also like to acknowledge the support extended by our counterparts in various countries in helping Malaysia recover 1MDB- related assets.”
