Envoy: US govt to continue looking for 1MDB stolen assets, funds

KOTA KINABALU: The United States (US) Ambassador to Malaysia Edgard D. Kagan is confident that the US Department of Justice (DOJ) will continue to look for assets and return stolen funds from 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) to benefit all Malaysians.

He said even though it was easier to find assets and funds earlier, the US government is committed to doing what it could to return every cent of 1MDB money that they can find and seize, then return them to the people of Malaysia.

Kagan said they do not do this out of charity or as a gift, but as a responsibility because the money belongs to Malaysians and it was stolen from them, thus the money should go back for the benefit of the people of Malaysia.

"We recognise that Malaysia and Malaysians suffered great losses. However, we're proud of the fact that the US has played such an important role in addressing 1MDB issue.

"If you look carefully nobody else has seized or forfeited anywhere near as many assets and return them to the people of Malaysia," he told reporters after giving a talk at The Ambassadorial Talk at Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) here Friday (June 14).

Last night, Kagan in a statement said US has returned about US$156mil (RM721.4mil) to Malaysia, representing the fourth installment of funds recovered from asset seizures related to 1MDB.

He said with this transfer, the US has recovered and assisted in recovering and returning about US$1.4bil (RM6.6bil) in funds misappropriated from Malaysia to date.

It said the co-conspirators allegedly laundered the funds through a series of complex transactions and shell companies with bank accounts located in the US and abroad using fraudulent documents and representations. - Bernama