THE United States has started a criminal investigation into money allegedly stolen from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), delaying civil suits filed the past two years to forfeit more than US$1 billion (RM4.28 billion) in real estate and other assets.

Bloomberg reported overnight that court filings by Department of Justice (DoJ) showed the US was escalating its probe in a worldwide effort to track the amount of money raised by 1MDB that was diverted to to pay for luxury real estate, art, film productions and more.

DoJ officials asked a judge in Los Angeles to freeze civil forfeiture lawsuits against assets acquired by Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho, also known as Jho Low, as pursuing these may have “an adverse effect” on its ability to conduct the criminal investigation.

In its civil cases, the DoJ alleged that between 2009 and 2015, more than US$4.5 billion belonging to 1MDB was diverted by high-level officials of the fund and their associates.

Last year, DoJ filed a civil asset forfeiture suit to seize more than US$1 billion in assets that were bought using funds allegedly misappropriated from 1MDB.

A year later in June, DoJ filed another suit to seize US$540 in assets, including a US$165 million yacht the Equanimity, owned by Jho Low, and rights to comedy movie ‘Dumb and Dumber To’ produced by Red Granite, a production house co-owned by Riza Aziz, the stepson of Prime Minister Najib Razak.

Besides the US, authorities in several countries, like Singapore and Switzerland, are investigating cases linked to the debt-laden Malaysian state investor.

The Singaporean probe has revealed a complex web of transactions that Jho Low used to funnel RM4 billion from 1MDB to companies controlled by him or his proxies.

This has resulted in investment banker Yeo Jiawei sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison for money laundering.

However, Malaysian authorities has consistently claimed that no wrongdoing occurred in 1MDB’s transaction, and say Najib should not be blamed despite the prime minister being on the state investor’s advisory board.

Jho Low has also denied accusations of wrongdoing.– August 11, 2017.