The U.S.
Justice Department has taken legal action to recover an additional half a
billion dollars in assets stolen from an investment fund established by
Malaysia's prime
minister, bringing the total claims to more than $1.7 billion.
The assets
include a Picasso painting given to actor Leonardo DiCaprio and the rights to
two Hollywood films, the department said.
The filing
in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles was the Justice Department's latest step
in a long-running case over an alleged conspiracy to launder money
misappropriated from the 1Malaysia Development Berhad fund, known as 1MDB,
which was set up by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak in 2009 to promote
economic development.
In the complaints,
which are all civil actions, the Justice Department alleged that more than $4.5
billion was taken from 1MDB by high-level fund officials and their associates.
"We
simply will not allow the United States to be a place where corrupt individuals
can expect to hide assets and lavishly spend money that should be used for the
benefit of citizens of other nations," Kenneth Blanco, acting assistant
attorney general, said in a statement on Thursday.
1MDB said on
Friday that it is not a party to the civil lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department
of Justice and had never been contacted in relation to the case.
Najib has
denied taking money from 1MDB or any other entity for personal gain, after it
was reported that investigators traced nearly $700 million to bank accounts
that were allegedly in his name.
In response
to the latest lawsuit, a spokesman for Najib said the lawsuits raised concerns
about "the unnecessary and gratuitous naming of certain matters and
individuals that are only relevant to domestic political manipulation and
interference".
"This
suggests a motivation that goes beyond the objective of seizing assets,"
Najib's press secretary, Tengku Sariffuddin, said in a statement, adding that
unproven allegations should not be taken as fact.
Malaysia attorney
general's office said in an emailed statement that Malaysian authorities had
discovered no crime committed by anyone at the fund.
The latest
lawsuit comes as Najib prepares for a elections, which sources say he hopes to
call in the second half of the year to cement his position following a purge of
dissenters within his party.
He has
dismissed calls from opponents and activists to step down and make way for a
full inquiry into the scandal. An investigation by Malaysia's top attorney
found no wrongdoing by Najib.
DIAMONDS,
PAINTINGS AND MOVIES
U.S.
authorities, in civil complaints, have accused Malaysian financier Jho Low of
laundering more than $400 million stolen from 1MDB through an account in the
United States, where he lavished his associates, including DiCaprio, with money
to gamble and luxury goods.
U.S.
authorities have not charged Low with any crime.
Authorities
said that in 2014, Low used $3.2 million diverted from a 1MDB bond sale to buy
a Picasso painting for DiCaprio. "Dear Leonardo DiCaprio, Happy belated
Birthday! This gift is for you," a friend of Low's wrote in a note.
DiCaprio has
not been accused of any crime.
A spokesman
for DiCaprio on Thursday said that the actor had recently begun proceedings to
transfer ownership of the Picasso to the U.S. government.
The
spokesman said that DiCaprio in July 2016 had "initiated the return"
of gifts he had received from financiers connected to the 1MDB case after
authorities made allegations against people involved in financing the 2013 film
"The Wolf of Wall Street," which starred DiCaprio.
It is one of
three Hollywood films that the Justice Department says were funded with tens of
millions of dollars stolen from 1MDB by Jho Low.
The
spokesman said that DiCaprio had accepted the gifts to raise funds in an
auction for his environmental foundation.
The three
films were produced by Red Granite, which was founded by Najib's stepson, Riza
Aziz. The other two films are "Dumb and Dumber To," a 2014 comedy
starring Jim Carrey, and the 2015 film "Daddy's Home" starring Will
Ferrell.
The Justice
Department's filing on Thursday seeks the rights to those films, after moving
last year to seize rights to "The Wolf of Wall Street."
Red Granite
said in a statement it was in discussions with the Justice Department
"aimed at resolving these civil cases and is fully cooperating."
DiCaprio's
spokesman also said that the actor had returned an Oscar won by actor Marlon
Brando that was given to him by Red Granite "to thank him for his work on
The Wolf of Wall Street."
DiCaprio's
charitable foundation last October said that any gifts or donations made to the
actor or his ventures would be returned if they were found to have come from
1MDB.
The Justice
Department filing on Thursday also alleged that Low also used $9.2 million
diverted from 1MDB bond sales to buy a collage made by New York artist
Jean-Michel Basquiat that was also given to DiCaprio.
DiCaprio and
Low signed a note in March 2014 absolving the star of "any liability
whatsoever resulting directly or indirectly from these art-work,"
according to the filings.
Low, in an
emailed statement sent via a representative, said the Justice Department (DOJ)
continued its "inappropriate efforts" to seize assets.
"This
week's activity from the DOJ is a further example of global overreach in
pursuit of a deeply flawed case," Low said.
Rasky
Partners, a public relations firm that emailed his statement, could not be
immediately reached by phone.
Other
purchases with the misappropriated funds included a yacht and jewelry worth
$200 million purchased from various companies around the world. Nearly $30
million of those funds was used to buy jewelry for Najib's wife, according to
the U.S. Justice Department filing.
An aide to
the prime minister's wife, Rosmah Mansor, did not respond to requests for
comment.
Fraud
allegations against 1MDB go back to 2009, the Justice Department said, and the
fund is subject to money laundering investigations in at least six countries,
including Switzerland and Singapore.
REUTERS*
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