US government to return $156 million in 1MDB money to Malaysia, embassy says Reuters
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – The U.S. government has returned another $156 million to Malaysia in assets found linked to the scandal-hit sovereign wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), bringing the total recovered so far to $1.4 billion, the U.S. embassy in Kuala said. Lumpur. .
The recovered funds were returned following the US Department of Justice’s approval of a pardon request submitted by the Malaysian government.
To date, US authorities have recovered and returned approximately $1.4 billion of misappropriated funds from 1MDB to Malaysia, the US embassy said in a statement released Thursday night.
“This unusual money goes back to the people of Malaysia where it belongs and where it can be used for its original purpose – to improve the lives of Malaysians every day,” US Ambassador Edgard D. Kagan said in a statement.
The Malaysian prime minister’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Malaysian and US investigators estimate that $4.5 billion was taken from 1MDB following its launch in 2009, including former Prime Minister Najib Razak, Goldman Sachs employees and senior officials elsewhere.
