KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has recorded significant asset recovery through clear emphasis at policy and operational levels, resulting in a 15-fold increase since the 2015 mutual evaluation report, totalling RM37.63bil in assets, says global financial crime watchdog Financial Action Task Force and Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering.
A mutual evaluation report released on Thursday (Dec 11) said Malaysian authorities placed a clear emphasis on asset recovery, especially through civil processes (tax recovery, non-conviction-based forfeiture and the Securities Commission (SC) disgorgement).
The report said pursuant to the National Coordination Committee to Counter Money Laundering (NCC) policy roadmap, law enforcement authorities have targeted action plans and dedicated teams in relation to asset seizure and forfeiture.
"Between 2019 and February 2025, Malaysia achieved a robust asset recovery outcome, securing €8.11bil through a comprehensive, multi-pronged strategy that effectively leveraged asset repatriation related to 1MDB (75.1%), tax and duty recovery by the Inland Revenue Board and the Royal Malaysian Customs Department (22.2%), conviction and non-conviction-based forfeiture (2.6%) and disgorgement and restitution mechanisms (0.2%).
"Excluding the 1MDB case, Malaysia's asset recovery outcome of €2.03bil is a strong improvement from the country's 2015 mutual evaluation report, while relatively modest compared to the total assets recovered in relation to 1MDB and given the country's risk and context.
"While the overall asset recovery figure of €8.11bil reflects some success in pursuing illicit assets, it underscores a reliance on a single, high-profile case (1MDB) to drive overall recovery results," the report said.
This suggests that while Malaysia has demonstrated capacity in complex, large-scale cases, there may be a need to strengthen systemic asset recovery efforts across a broader range of cases to ensure more consistent outcomes, it said.
Moreover, Malaysia's asset recovery framework is not fully aligned with its risk profile, particularly the full range of high- and medium-high risk predicate offences.
The assessment team also said Malaysia has made some improvements in its system in declaring and identifying cross-border currency movements, such as a rise in the declaration forms submitted versus the 2015 mutual evaluation report.
Nevertheless, Malaysia is not confiscating falsely declared or undeclared cross-border currency declarations in line with its risk profile.
Moreover, the sanctions for violating these declaration requirements are ineffective, proportionate and dissuasive, the report said. – Bernama
