MACC confirms its collaboration with FBI on 1MDB investigations

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) confirmed that it is working closely with US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in investigating the alleged money laundering linked to 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
According to MACC, the cooperation between both department has existed even before the US Justice Department's filing of a civil lawsuit to seize over US$1 billion (RM4 billion) in assets allegedly procured using funds stolen from the national sovereign fund.
"On the cooperation mentioned earlier, the focus will be given on the possibility of embezzlement and money laundering by a businessman that is said to have cheated 1MDB," the commission said in a statement without revealing the identity of the businessman.
On Wednesday, the Justice Department filed civil suits in Washington seeking to seize US$1billion (RM4.02billion) worth of assets allegedly obtained using funds siphoned from 1MDB.
US prosecutors said more than US$3.5 billion in 1MDB funds were allegedly misappropriated by high-level officials of the local state investment firm and their associates between 2009 and 2015.
The funds allegedly embezzled and laundered into the US were purportedly 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 to pay for gambling debts in Las Vegas.