INDONESIAN and US authorities are discussing the handover of luxury yacht Equanimity, which was seized in Bali at the request of US investigators probing misappropriation and laundering of funds from 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB)

“The handover or the next step is still being discussed between Indonesia and America. It will go through diplomatic channel,” Indonesian National Police Spokesman Muhammad Iqbal Abduh told the Sydney Morning Herald.

He said police were acting at the request of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which had asked for help to enforce a court order in a letter dated February 21. 

The US Department of Justice alleges in court filings that US$4.5 billion (RM19 billion) was looted from 1MDB.

The suits seek to confiscate US$1.7 billion in assets allegedly bought with stolen money and these include the Equanimity, which US officials said was bought by Jho Taek Low aka Jho Low, with funds diverted from 1MDB.

According to information furnished by the FBI, the Automated Identification System (AIS) on the Equanimity had been switched off several times in waters around the Philippines and Singapore.

The AIS system uses satellites to pinpoint locations, and switching it off would make it harder to detect a vessel.

The South African captain, his two assistants – an Australian and a Briton – and crew were questioned and allowed to remain onboard, but require permission to go anywhere pending investigations. 

Following the seizure of the Equanimity, Low yesterday though his lawyer accused the US Department of Justice (DoJ) of “overreach” “based on entirely unsupported claims of wrongdoing”.

Low, whose whereabouts are unknown, said the DoJ had “still not taken any steps to prove any impropriety has occurred”. – March 2, 2018.