US returns US$156 million in looted 1MDB funds to Malaysia

The US Justice Department has described the corruption as the largest kleptocracy case it had ever uncovered.

Najib, who lost the 2018 national election on the back of popular anger over 1MDB and allegations of rampant corruption in his government, was jailed in 2022 for graft linked to a former unit of the state fund.

The latest return of 1MDB funds to Malaysia is the fourth made by the US government, raising the total amount recovered and repatriated to the Southeast Asian nation to around US$1.4 billion, US Ambassador to Malaysia Edgard D Kagan said.

“We are very happy that this fourth tranche of assets from the Justice Department investigations is being transferred back to Malaysia,” Kagan said in a statement released by the US embassy to Malaysia on Thursday.

“This extraordinary sum of money is going back to the people of Malaysia where it belongs and where it can finally be used for its original purpose – to better the lives of everyday Malaysians.”

On Wednesday, claimants in a lawsuit against Najib’s wife, Rosmah Mansor, alleged that she had amassed a collection of jewellery, handbags and other luxury goods worth over US$346 million from vendors in at least a dozen countries using 1MDB funds.

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The legacy of Malaysia’s 1MDB scandal on politics and corruption-fighting

Najib, who is currently serving time for corruption linked to 42 million ringgit (US$8.8 million) in funds stolen from former 1MDB unit SRC International, faces at least a dozen more charges across several corruption trials in Malaysia related to the investment vehicle.

The scandal also triggered separate investigations in several other nations. In April, Swiss prosecutors charged two managers of Saudi-owned PetroSaudi for commercial fraud for allegedly