Malaysia Will Freeze $340 Million PetroSaudi Funds Linked to 1MDB
Malaysia Will Freeze $340 Million PetroSaudi Funds Linked to 1MDB
(Bloomberg) -- Malaysia granted an interim order to prevent $340 million of funds allegedly linked to 1MDB from being moved from Petrosaudi International’s accounts in the U.K.
The judge has set Aug. 28 for the next hearing on the forfeiture lawsuit filed by Malaysia’s government against PetroSaudi and its director Tarek Obaid. Tarek had previously been charged in his absence with engaging in criminal conspiracy with the country’s former leader Najib Razak and with illegally receiving $300 million from 1MDB.
“This is the first step, to freeze the account, the next step is to bring the money back,” said Nizamuddin Hamid, a lawyer for the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission. The money has been moved to an escrow account held by Clyde & Co. LLP in London and the commission will submit a mutual legal assistance request to U.K. authorities to freeze the funds, it said in a statement.
The 1MDB scandal has sparked global investigations into corruption and money laundering with prosecutors estimating that about $4.5 billion was siphoned from the Malaysian investment fund.
Since Najib was ousted in 2018, the country has reopened investigations and sought to find the billions of dollars missing from 1MDB. It has brought back $600 million with help from U.S. authorities and recouped millions of dollars more with assistance from neighboring Singapore.
Najib’s party has since returned to power following a political turmoil in February that ended with the appointment of Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin. Muhyiddin has pledged to continue fighting corruption and working with authorities around the world to recoup the funds, even as his government faced backlash for striking a deal with Najib’s stepson to drop a different set of 1MDB-related charges.
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