M'sia to cooperate with 'lawful investigations' after US files 1MDB suit

KUALA LUMPUR: As Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak has always maintained, the law will be enforced without exception if any wrongdoing is proven with regard to 1Malaysia Development Berhad, said the Prime Minister's Press Secretary, Datuk Seri Tengku Sariffuddin Tengku Ahmad.
He said 1MDB, the government investment fund, had been the subject of multiple investigations within Malaysia, including by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, Auditor-General and the bi-partisan Public Accounts Committee.
"Malaysian authorities have led the way in investigations into 1MDB. After a comprehensive review, the Attorney-General found that no crime was committed.
1MDB is still the subject of an investigation by the Royal Malaysia Police.
"We note the United States Department of Justice's civil lawsuits brought against various assets," he said in a statement here yesterday.
As previously stated, he said, the Government would fully cooperate with any lawful investigation of Malaysian companies or citizens in accordance with international protocols.

Meanwhile, 1MDB said in a statement that it was not a party to the civil suits, did not have any assets in the United States, nor had it benefited from the various transactions described in the civil suits.

"1MDB notes a press conference led by the US Attorney-General yesterday relating to a civil court action filed by the government of the United States of America.
"Furthermore, 1MDB has not been contacted by the US Department of Justice or any other foreign agency in relation to their investigations.
"As previously stated, 1MDB will fully cooperate with any foreign lawful authority, subject to international protocols governing such matters and the advice of the relevant domestic lawful authorities," the statement said.

The DoJ on Wednesday filed civil suits to seize assets in the US that were allegedly purchased using funds siphoned from 1MDB and return the proceeds of the sale of these seized assets to Malaysians.
US prosecutors alleged that more than US$3.5 billion (RM14 million) in 1MDB funds were misappropriated by high-level officials (of 1MDB) and their associates between 2009 and 2015.
The funds were later allegedly used to buy luxury properties in New York, Los Angeles and London, paintings by Vincent Van Gogh and Claude Monet, a US$35 million jet, as well as gambling debts in Las Vegas.
In a press conference in Washington DC on Wednesday, US Attorney General Loretta Lynch said the move was part of an effort to combat global corruption and ensure the US did not serve as a safe haven to those who illegally use public funds for private gain.
"This case should send a signal that the DOJ is determined to prevent the American financial system from being used as a conduit for corruption. And it should make clear to corrupt officials around the world that we will be relentless in our efforts to deny them the proceeds of their crimes," she said.
Special Agent Darryl Wegner, chief of the FBI's International Corruption Unit (US) said the alleged fraud went on around the world and at least US$1 billion traceable to the conspiracy was laundered through the US and used to purchase assets there.
He said the FBI has three dedicated international corruption squads - in New York City, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C. to deal with foreign bribery incidents that are often tied to kleptocracy, the term used when foreign officials steal from their own governments at the expense of their citizens.
"That is basically what we saw in the 1MDB case," Wegner said. "And because these corrupt individuals used the US banking system to hide or launder their criminal proceeds, the FBI took a lead role in investigating this matter."
Wegner also noted that the leadership of the MACC showed "tremendous courage" in pursuing the investigation, which was led by the FBI's international public corruption squad in New York.