The United States Department of Justice on Thursday announced that it has reached a settlement to recoup more than $700 Million in assets allegedly traceable to corruption involving Malaysia's Sovereign Wealth Fund.  

The Department of Justice has reached a settlement of its civil forfeiture cases against assets acquired by Low Taek Jho, widely known as Jho Low, and his family using funds allegedly misappropriated from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). The monies have been laundered through financial institutions in several jurisdictions, including the United States, Switzerland, Singapore, and Luxembourg. 

«A staggering amount of money embezzled from 1MDB at the expense of the people of Malaysia was laundered through the purchase of big-ticket assets in the U.S. and other nations. Thanks to this settlement, one of the men allegedly at the center of this massive scheme will lose all access to hundreds of millions of dollars,» said U.S. Attorney Nicola T. Hanna of the Central District of California in an official statement. 

Not A Safe Haven

The message, in this case, is simple: the United States is not a safe haven for pilfered funds. «As alleged in the complaints, Jho Low and others, including officials in Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates, engaged in a brazen multi-year conspiracy to launder money embezzled or otherwise misappropriated from 1MDB, and he used those funds, among other things, to engage in extravagant spending sprees, acquiring one-of-kind artwork and luxury real estate, gambling freely at casinos, and propping up his lavish lifestyle,» said Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. 

«This settlement agreement forces Low and his family to relinquish hundreds of millions of dollars in ill-gotten gains that were intended to be used for the benefit of the Malaysian people, and it sends a signal that the United States will not be a safe haven for the proceeds of corruption.» 

Largest Recovery

With the conclusion of this settlement, together with the prior disposition of other related forfeiture cases, the United States will have recovered or assisted in the recovery of more than $1 billion in assets associated with the 1MDB international money laundering and bribery scheme. 

The assets, sprawled across the United States, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland, represents the largest recovery to date under the Department’s Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative and the largest civil forfeiture ever concluded by the Justice Department. 

Low separately faces charges in the Eastern District of New York for conspiring to launder billions of dollars embezzled from 1MDB and for conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) by paying bribes to various Malaysian and Emirati officials, and in the District of Columbia for conspiring to make and conceal foreign and conduit campaign contributions during the United States presidential election in 2012.

«Historic Agreement»

A note issued by Low highlighted the closure as a «historic agreement» reached as a result of «good faith discussions».

«I am very pleased to confirm that a landmark comprehensive, global settlement has been reached with the United States government, which fully and forever resolves in their entirety each of the U.S. government's civil, criminal, and administrative actions or proceedings relating to the defendant assets at issue in the Central District of California,» the note said.

«Importantly, the agreement does not constitute an admission of guilt, liability or any form of wrongdoing by me or the asset owners. We believe all parties consider this resolution, which is subject to final court approval, to be a successful and satisfactory result.»