1MDB fraud vehicles now used to recover money

NEW YORK: Once conduits for hundreds of millions of dollars looted from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), a group of offshore entities are being repurposed to try to track down the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund’s stolen money.

Three British Virgin Islands-based companies linked to 1MDB on Tuesday filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy in Florida, utilizing the section of the U.S. code that allows foreign debtors to bring proceedings in the states. Their aim is to recover a portion of the $8.5 billion allegedly stolen from 1MDB, some of which may be in the U.S., the companies said.