Statement by US Embassy Kuala Lumpur:
PUTRAJAYA – U.S. Ambassador to Malaysia Kamala Shirin Lakhdhir and Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General John P. Cronan met today with Malaysian Attorney General Tommy Thomas and Minister of Finance Lim Guan Eng to confirm the initiation of the process to return approximately $196 million (RM 812.9 million) to Malaysia, representing the first installment of funds recovered from asset seizures related to 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), Malaysia’s state-owned and controlled fund created to pursue investment and development projects for the economic benefit of Malaysia and its people.
The first tranche of returned funds includes:
• $57,036,688.68 (RM 233,701,605.23) from Red Granite Pictures, and stems from a March 2018 settlement in California courts. This amount has been received by Malaysia.
• The U.S. Department of Justice is in the process of returning $139,000,000 (RM 576,196,700) from the February 2019 sale of Manhattan’s Park Lane Hotel. This amount is in the process of being transferred from the U.S. to Malaysia.
“We are extremely pleased that this first tranche of assets from this Justice Department investigation is being transferred back to Malaysia, demonstrating the U.S. commitment to return these assets for the benefit of the people of Malaysia,” said Ambassador Kamala Shirin Lahkdhir, the U.S. Ambassador to Malaysia.
“This is an important symbol of the cooperation between our two countries – a cooperation that demonstrates our shared commitment to good governance, combatting official corruption, and ensuring justice is served.” – Buletin TTKM-