July 20, 2016
US Wants $1 Billion From World’s Most Complicated Corruption Scheme
The US Department of Justice filed civil forfeiture claims on ~$1 billion in assets bought by money allegedly funneled from Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund,1MDB. The lawsuits allege that individuals close to the Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, like his stepson, illegally used government money to buy luxury real estate, Monet paintings and the rights to the movie “The Wolf of Wall Street.” They’ve called it an “international conspiracy to launder money.” Last year Mr. Najib was casually accused of transferring $631 million from the fund to his personal accounts. How one can make such a large transfer without a few red flags is beyond us. Najib claims the money was merely a “gift” from some Saudi friends…