The US Justice Department is seeking more than $1 billion in assets tied to the Malaysian development fund known as 1MDB, which includes royalties from the 2013 Wolf of Wall Street film, a Vincent Van Gogh drawing, and real estate in both Beverly Hills and Manhattan.
Authorities announced the civil forfeiture complaint on Wednesday claiming that co-conspirators laundered more than 3.5 billion from the fund through the US banking system and used shell companies to purchase famous artwork and luxury real estate in the states.
“1MDB was ostensibly created to pursue investment and development projects for the economic benefit of Malaysia and its people, primarily relying on the issuance of various debt securities to fund these projects,” the department said in its court filings, The New York Times reports.
“However, over the course of an approximately four-year period, between approximately 2009 and at least 2013, multiple individuals, including public officials and their associates, conspired to fraudulently divert billions of dollars from 1MDB through various means.”
The seizure marks the “largest single action ever brought” by the Justice Department’s Kleptocracy Asset Initiative, Lynch said at the conference. The unit was established in 2010 to crack down on the use of U.S. banks for international money laundering.
“Unfortunately and tragically, a number of corrupt officials treated this public trust as a personal bank account,” Attorney General Loretta Lynch told reporters at a press conference on Wednesday.
Lynch added, “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.
