MEMBERS of the 1Malaysia Development Bhd task force met US officials in Putrajaya yesterday, seeking ways to repatriate assets bought with money stolen from the state investor that have been frozen in the US.

The task force, in a statement released today, said the meeting between its members and officers from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and US Department of Justice also discussed establishing mutual legal assistance (MLA) in the investigations.

The task force was represented by former attorney-general Abdul Gani Patail, former Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission chief Abu Kassim Mohamed, Special Branch chief Abdul Hamid Bador and MACC chief Mohd Shukri Abdull.

At the meeting, the FBI highlighted that it had written to former MACC chief Dzulkifli Ahmad on November 13, 2016, seeking assistance in the 1MDB probe, but it received no response.

The statement said similarly, the DoJ had written to Attorney-General Mohamed Apandi Ali on September 22 last year, seeking assistance via MLA.

However, the DoJ was told that the request could not be met and must be postponed, as it could interfere with Malaysia’s investigations. – May 24, 2018.