US Government Returns $156M 1MDB Funds
The US government has returned another $156 million to Malaysia in recovered assets linked to the scandal-ridden state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), bringing the total returned so far to $1.4 billion, according to the US embassy in Kuala Lumpur.
The funds were returned following the US Justice Department’s approval of a remission petition submitted by the Malaysian government.
To date, US authorities have recovered and returned about $1.4 billion in misappropriated 1MDB funds to Malaysia, the US embassy stated late on Thursday.
“This extraordinary sum of money is going back to the people of Malaysia where it belongs and where it can finally be used for its original intended purpose – to better the lives of everyday Malaysians,” said US ambassador Edgard D. Kagan in the statement.
The office of Malaysia’s prime minister did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Malaysian and US investigators estimate that $4.5 billion was siphoned from 1MDB since its inception in 2009, implicating former Prime Minister Najib Razak, Goldman Sachs staff, and high-level officials elsewhere.
