US Department of Justice’s latest move will have little effect, says Barisan Nasional of the DoJ’s action to freeze its civil suits to seize assets bought with money allegedly stolen from 1Malaysian Development Bhd so that it could start a criminal investigation. 

BN strategic communications deputy director Eric See-To said the DoJ filing to freeze its civil forfeiture suits to seize assets acquired by Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho was a “distraction”.

“If the US Justice Department has enough grounds to file criminal charges against those individuals, then charge them and let the courts and the individuals involved prove whether they are guilty or innocent. 

“Until such charges are filed, the net effect is that the USA govt has essentially, indefinitely frozen the much-talked about civil suits. This is the bottomline of today’s news,” said See-To.

“This is nothing new as more than a year ago, there were periodic news reports that criminal charges were imminent - but until today, no criminal charges has been filed as yet.”

Bloomberg reported today that the DoJ has asked a judge in Los Angeles to freeze its civil forfeiture lawsuits as pursuing these may have “an adverse effect” on its ability to conduct the criminal investigation.

But See-To said the DoJ had merely asked for an indefinite suspension of its civil suits, which was “unusual”. 

“There is usually a time limit to such requests. In effect, the civil suits related to this case, which started more than a year ago and which has essentially gone nowhere, are now frozen.

“This also means that individuals from the previous US administration (most of which are gone but some still remain within the system) started an action without sufficient evidence to take the case forward, which signals the political motivation of individuals from the previous US administration,” See-To said in a statement today on his Facebook page.

He added this could “pave the way for constructive discussions” between Malaysia and the US, given the recent successful visit of US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to Kuala Lumpur.

The DoJ has filed a series of civil forfeiture suits to recover luxury real estate in the US, film production rights, private jets, a yacht, jewellery and more bought with allegedly stolen 1MDB money. It alleges that between 2009 and 2015, more than US$4.5 billion (RM19.3 billion) of 1MDB funds was diverted by high-level officials of the fund and their associates.

BN leaders have maintained that neither 1MDB nor any government official was named as a party in these suits.

See-To reiterated this today, adding it is important to note that 1MDB is not a party to the civil suits. 

“As far as 1MDB is concerned, all its funds have been accounted for,  in addition to the Malaysian Attorney-General’s statements after the DOJ filings that there has been no evidence of any misappropriation of funds.”

He said none of 1MDB’s money that was allegedly misappropriated belonged to any government official at the point of the court actions.

See-To said 1MDB was in the midst of completing its settlement with International Petroleum Investment Co (IPIC) and when that is done, it will prove that “there is no money missing or misappropriated”.

“To me, this should be the top priority for 1MDB amidst the distraction of the DoJ suits and the speculative news reports.” – August 11, 2017.