US goes after more than $1B taken from Malaysian fund

The diverted fund was also used to finance The Wolf of Wall Street

The United States on Thursday moved to recover more than $1 billion that federal officials say was stolen from a Malaysian wealth fund by people close to prime minister Najib Razak.

The diverted funds paid for luxury properties in New York and California, a $35 million jet, art by Vincent Van Gogh and Claude Monet and helped finance the Hollywood film, The Wolf of Wall Street, according to federal government complaints that demand the recovery and forfeiture of the ill-gotten assets.

The complaints, filed in Los Angeles, allege a complex money laundering scheme that the Justice Department says was intended to enrich top-level officials of the government-controlled wealth fund.

That fund, known informally as 1MDB, was created in 2009 by Najib to promote economic development projects in the Asian nation.

Instead, officials at the fund diverted more than $3.5 billion over the next several years through a web of shell companies and bank accounts in Singapore, Switzerland, Luxembourg and the US, the complaints allege.

About $1.3 billon raised through purportedly legitimate bond offerings was swiftly transferred to a Swiss bank account and, from there, distributed to fund officials for their personal benefit.

"In seeking to seize these forfeited items, the Department of Justice is sending a message that we will not allow the United States to become a playground for the corrupt," Eileen Decker, the US Attorney in Los Angeles, said at a news conference.

"And we will not allow it to be a platform for money laundering or a place to hide and invest in stolen riches," she added.

The money the government wants to recover reflects the amount officials were able to trace through the US Financial system.

In a statement, Najib's press secretary said the "Malaysian authorities have led the way in investigations into 1MDB" and that the government would "fully cooperate with any lawful investigation."

"As the Prime Minister has always maintained, if any wrongdoing is proven, the law will be enforced without exception," the statement said.

The Justice Department says the forfeiture demand is the largest single action it's taken under its Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative, which seeks to recover foreign bribery proceeds and embezzled funds.

Federal officials say the funds laundered into the US for the benefit of 1MDB officials and their associates were used to pay for property including Manhattan penthouses and Beverly Hills mansions; to settle gambling debts at Las Vegas casinos; and to pay for a London interior decorator, expensive paintings and the production of films, including the 2013 Oscar-nominated movie The Wolf of Wall Street.