The Department of Justice announced Wednesday it has reached a settlement to recover more than $49 million in assets associated with the international money laundering and bribery scheme involving Malaysia’s state development fund 1MDB.
1MDB was created by the government of Malaysia to promote economic development in Malaysia through global partnerships and foreign direct investment, and its funds were intended to be used for improving the well-being of the Malaysian people. That, however, has not been the case. According to the Department of Justice, more than $4.5 billion in funds belonging to 1MDB were allegedly misappropriated by high-level officials of 1MDB and their associates through a criminal conspiracy involving international money laundering and bribery from 2009 through 2015.
