This case is a model for international cooperation in significant cross-border money laundering investigations”Īccording to the civil forfeiture complaints, from 2009 through 2015, more than $4.5 billion in funds belonging to 1MDB were allegedly misappropriated by high-level officials of 1MDB and their associates, including Low, through a criminal conspiracy involving international money laundering and bribery. Low allegedly attempted to launder these funds through multiple international jurisdictions and a web of shell corporations, but his greed finally caught up with him. Low the use of the assets purchased with this extraordinarily large sum of money he allegedly misappropriated from 1MDB and the people of Malaysia,” said Chief Don Fort of IRS Criminal Investigations (IRS-CI). “The action announced today will allow the United States government to deny Mr. We will not allow criminals, foreign or domestic, to use the United States in furtherance of their criminal activities.” “The FBI's dedicated International Corruption Squads will continue to combat foreign corruption which reaches our shores. “Today's settlement with Jho Low demonstrates the continued commitment of the FBI to root out the fraud and selfishness of the corrupt individuals who conspired to pay bribes and launder funds which belong to the Malaysian people,” said FBI Assistant Director Terry Wade of the Criminal Investigative Division. Our strict anti-money laundering controls are effective, and we will seize assets used by criminals to conceal ill-gotten gains.” “The message in this case is simple: the United States is not a safe haven for pilfered funds. Hanna of the Central District of California. 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. “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. “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.” Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “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. This 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. 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. These assets, located in the United States, the United Kingdom and Switzerland, are estimated to be worth more than $700 million. The Department of Justice has reached a settlement of its civil forfeiture cases against assets acquired by Low Taek Jho, aka Jho Low, and his family using funds allegedly misappropriated from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), Malaysia’s investment development fund, and laundered through financial institutions in several jurisdictions, including the United States, Switzerland, Singapore and Luxembourg.