The reverberation of the 1MDB scandal hit 11.0 on the Richter Scale last week when the US Justice Department announced it was filing a civil action seeking more than $1B in the forfeiture of assets allegedly purloined from the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund for the personal use of the family and close friends of the Malaysian Prime Minister, Najib Razak. The filings were the largest on record for a case involving corruption by foreign public officials.
In a 136 Compliant, nicknamed the “Wolf of Wall Street” Compliant, the Justice Department laid out in excruciating detail its claims of how the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund was systematically looted or used as collateral for personal loans by the very government officials who were there to protect the fund for the citizens of the country. The Wall Street Journal reported that “some $1 billion originating with 1MDB was plowed into hotels; luxury real estate in Manhattan, Beverly Hills and London; fine art; a private jet and the 2013 film “The Wolf of Wall Street.” Among those behind the spending, the lawsuit alleges, was Riza Aziz, stepson of Mr. Najib.”
