US Returning Substantial Money to Malaysia in 1MDB Fund Case

"The Government of Malaysia is pleased to announce that the Government of the United States of America (US) has returned, and will be returning substantial monies to Malaysia, representing the first instalment of funds recovered from asset seizures related to 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) under the Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative of the US Department of Justice (DOJ)", the statement reads.

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Thomas added that the first tranche amounted to $57 million.

"The first tranche of returned funds of USD57,036,688.68 was credited into the 1MDB asset recovery account, a segregated trust account, opened specifically for this purpose … The DOJ is in the process of remitting a further sum of USD139 million … Thus, Malaysia has recovered USD 322 million (some RM1.3 billion) worth of 1MDB assets since the investigation into 1MDB effectively began after 14th General Election in May 2018", the statement says.

Kuala Lumpur created the 1Malaysia Development Berhad in 2009 to promote the country's economic growth through direct foreign investment and global partnerships. However, a number of officials, including former Prime Minister Nijab Razak, have since been suspected of embezzling around a total of $4.5 billion from the fund-related projects.