U.S. reaches settlement to Recover More Than $49 Million involving Malaysian Sovereign Wealth Fund

The Justice Department says it has reached a settlement worth more than $49 million connected to Malaysian sovereign wealth fund 1MDB and a former managing director of Abu Dhabi's International Petroleum Investment Company.

The petroleum company executive, Khadem al-Qubaisi, was involved in a scheme to use funds allegedly misappropriated from 1MDB and laundered through financial institutions around the world including those in Luxembourg, Switzerland and Goldman Sachs in the United States. 

The government of former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak set up the 1MDB fund in 2009, according to Reuters. 

The Justice Department has estimated more than $4.5 billion was siphoned out of Malaysia by high-level fund officials and their associates from 2009 to 2014 in the scheme.

IPIC had guaranteed bonds for 1MDB in 2012, arranged by Goldman. Al-Qubaisi was reportedly sentenced last year to 15 years in prison.

Federal officials say the U.S. has now recovered early $1.1 billion in assets associated with the 1MDB international money laundering and bribery scheme, after the conclusion on this most recent settlement and other related forfeiture cases.

The 1MDB money laundering and bribery scheme also represents the largest recovery to date under the Justice Department’s Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative and the largest civil forfeiture ever concluded by the agency, federal officials also said.