Posted on 10/30/2019 10:08:28 PM PDT by ransomnote
The Department of Justice has reached a settlement of its civil forfeiture cases against assets acquired by Low Taek Jho, aka Jho Low, and his family using funds allegedly misappropriated from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), Malaysia’s investment development fund, and laundered through financial institutions in several jurisdictions, including the United States, Switzerland, Singapore and Luxembourg.
These assets, located in the United States, the United Kingdom and Switzerland, are estimated to be worth more than $700 million. With the conclusion of this settlement, together with the prior disposition of other related forfeiture cases, the United States will have recovered or assisted in the recovery of more than $1 billion in assets associated with the 1MDB international money laundering and bribery scheme. This represents the largest recovery to date under the Department’s Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative and the largest civil forfeiture ever concluded by the Justice Department.
“As alleged in the complaints, Jho Low and others, including officials in Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates, engaged in a brazen multi-year conspiracy to launder money embezzled or otherwise misappropriated from 1MDB, and he used those funds, among other things, to engage in extravagant spending sprees, acquiring one-of-kind artwork and luxury real estate, gambling freely at casinos, and propping up his lavish lifestyle,” said Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “This settlement agreement forces Low and his family to relinquish hundreds of millions of dollars in ill-gotten gains that were intended to be used for the benefit of the Malaysian people, and it sends a signal that the United States will not be a safe haven for the proceeds of corruption.”
“A staggering amount of money embezzled from 1MDB at the expense of the people of Malaysia was laundered through the purchase of big-ticket assets in the U.S. and other nations. Thanks to this settlement, one of the men allegedly at the center of this massive scheme will lose all access to hundreds of millions of dollars,” said U.S. Attorney Nicola T. Hanna of the Central District of California. “The message in this case is simple: the United States is not a safe haven for pilfered funds. Our strict anti-money laundering controls are effective, and we will seize assets used by criminals to conceal ill-gotten gains.”
“Today's settlement with Jho Low demonstrates the continued commitment of the FBI to root out the fraud and selfishness of the corrupt individuals who conspired to pay bribes and launder funds which belong to the Malaysian people,” said FBI Assistant Director Terry Wade of the Criminal Investigative Division. “The FBI's dedicated International Corruption Squads will continue to combat foreign corruption which reaches our shores. We will not allow criminals, foreign or domestic, to use the United States in furtherance of their criminal activities.”
“The action announced today will allow the United States government to deny Mr. Low the use of the assets purchased with this extraordinarily large sum of money he allegedly misappropriated from 1MDB and the people of Malaysia,” said Chief Don Fort of IRS Criminal Investigations (IRS-CI). “Mr. Low allegedly attempted to launder these funds through multiple international jurisdictions and a web of shell corporations, but his greed finally caught up with him. This case is a model for international cooperation in significant cross-border money laundering investigations”
According to the civil forfeiture complaints, from 2009 through 2015, more than $4.5 billion in funds belonging to 1MDB were allegedly misappropriated by high-level officials of 1MDB and their associates, including Low, through a criminal conspiracy involving international money laundering and bribery. 1MDB was created by the government of Malaysia to promote economic development in Malaysia through global partnerships and foreign direct investment, and its funds were intended to be used for improving the well-being of the Malaysian people.
Under the terms of the settlement, Low, his family members, and FFP, a Cayman Islands entity serving as the trustees overseeing the assets at issue in these forfeiture actions, agreed to forfeit all assets subject to pending forfeiture complaints in which they have a potential interest. The trustees are also required to cooperate and assist the Justice Department in the orderly transfer, management and disposition of the relevant assets. From the assets formerly managed by FFP, the United States will release $15 million to Low’s counsel to pay for legal fees and costs. Under the agreement, none of those fees may be returned to Low or his family members. The assets subject to the settlement agreement include high-end real estate in Beverly Hills, New York and London; a luxury boutique hotel in Beverly Hills; and tens of millions of dollars in business investments that Low allegedly made with funds traceable to misappropriated 1MDB monies.
Low separately faces charges in the Eastern District of New York for conspiring to launder billions of dollars embezzled from 1MDB and for conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) by paying bribes to various Malaysian and Emirati officials, and in the District of Columbia for conspiring to make and conceal foreign and conduit campaign contributions during the United States presidential election in 2012. The charges in the indictments are merely allegations, and defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. This agreement does not release any entity or individual from filed or potential criminal charges.
The assets being forfeited subject to this settlement are in addition to the nearly $140 million in assets the U.S. previously forfeited in connection with Low’s investment in a business entity related to the Park Lane Hotel in New York, as well as a super-yacht, valued at over $120 million, seized by law enforcement authorities in Indonesia at the request of the Justice Department and recovered by Malaysian authorities directly from Indonesia. Following conclusion of today’s settlement, several civil forfeiture complaints arising out of the 1MDB criminal conspiracy remain pending against assets associated with other alleged co-conspirators.
The FBI’s International Corruption Squads in New York City and Los Angeles and the IRS-CI are investigating the case. Deputy Chief Woo S. Lee and Trial Attorneys Kyle R. Freeny, Joshua L. Sohn, Barbara Levy and Jonathan Baum of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys John Kucera, Michael R. Sew Hoy and Steven R. Welk of the Central District of California are prosecuting the case. The Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs is providing substantial assistance.
The Department also appreciates the significant assistance provided by the Attorney General’s Chambers of Malaysia, the Royal Malaysian Police, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, the Attorney General’s Chambers of Singapore, the Singapore Police Force-Commercial Affairs Division, the Office of the Attorney General and the Federal Office of Justice of Switzerland, the judicial investigating authority of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and the Criminal Investigation Department of the Grand-Ducal Police of Luxembourg.
The Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative is led by a team of dedicated prosecutors in the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section, in partnership with federal law enforcement agencies, and often with U.S. Attorney’s Offices, to forfeit the proceeds of foreign official corruption and, where appropriate, to use those recovered assets to benefit the people harmed by these acts of corruption and abuse of office. In 2015, the FBI formed International Corruption Squads across the country to address national and international implications of foreign corruption. Individuals with information about possible proceeds of foreign corruption located in or laundered through the U.S. should contact federal law enforcement or send an email to kleptocracy@usdoj.gov (link sends e-mail) or https://tips.fbi.gov/.
A civil forfeiture complaint is merely an allegation that money or property was involved in or represents the proceeds of a crime. These allegations are not proven until a court awards judgment in favor of the United States.
The Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative is led by a team of dedicated prosecutors in the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section, in partnership with federal law enforcement agencies, and often with U.S. Attorney’s Offices, to forfeit the proceeds of foreign official corruption and, where appropriate, to use those recovered assets to benefit the people harmed by these acts of corruption and abuse of office. In 2015, the FBI formed International Corruption Squads across the country to address national and international implications of foreign corruption. Individuals with information about possible proceeds of foreign corruption located in or laundered through the U.S. should contact federal law enforcement or send an email to kleptocracy@usdoj.gov (link sends e-mail) or https://tips.fbi.gov/.
At the link, apparently another member of this crime ring:
I wonder which American politicians were on the take in this?
Maybe the number of American politicians who WERE NOT on the take would be a shorter list? :/
More on the perp:
Any politicians’ kids on the board?
Why are we sending a billion dollars to Malaysia in the first place????
Liz, 1MDB ping.
Because they sent money to the Clinton and Obamas.
So this government group is stealing it back from the thieves who originally stole it from the government who stole it from the taxpayers in the first place? Very confusing.
Thanks.
clintonfoundation.org.
MAWAR-—Commitment by Malaysian Aids Council
In 2008, the Malaysian AIDS Council (MAC) committed to help he Clinton Foundation reduce HIV vulnerability among sex workers and transsexuals through community empowerment.
To fulfill this commitment, the Malaysian AIDS Council will partner with 12 organizations across Malaysia to scale up and expand these HIV prevention services to sex workers through enhanced training and empowerment of sex workers.
As sex work is illegal in Malaysia, MAC will also engage with relevant stakeholders to advocate for policies that would enable the implementation of these programs.
A Year in Review: 11 Inspiring Moments from 2016
DEC 22, 2016
Since 2001, the Clinton Foundation has worked to improve lives around the world and build upon President Clinton’s legacy of public service.
LINK Read Moreabout A Year in Review: 11 Inspiring Moments from 2016
This week: The Foundation’s Programs at Work
OCT 28, 2016
Here are the latest updates of some of the Foundation’s programs at work:
LINK Read Moreabout This week: The Foundation’s Programs at Work
Overview(active tab) DetailsProgress Reports
SUMMARY
Commitment-—MAWAR
Launched——2008
Est. Duration-—3 Years
Estimated Total Value——$1,000,000
Start with those with a D behind their name and follow up with RINOs.
Mahathir’s Secret Arrangement With The Clinton Foundation
THE THIRD FORCE By MT Webmaster On Jun 24, 2017
“On the 20th of June 2016, Mahathir instructed his right-hand man, Daim Zainuddin, to initiate the transfer of USD5 million through channels linked to the Clinton Foundation.
The money was a ‘donation’ to assist Mrs. Clinton in her campaign against her Democratic contender for the White House, Bernie Sanders. By the 18th of July 2016, Lynch had received a portion of the sum – some USD1.12 million – through a proxy channel linked to the Clinton Foundation.”
On the 20th of July 2016, former United States (US) Attorney General Loretta Lynch broke the internet when she announced the filing of civil forfeitures complaints against a movie production and distribution company. The announcement, made in the presence of Andrew McCabe, pertained allegations of fraud involving Red Granite Pictures, a company co-founded by Riza Aziz and Joey McFarland.
Lynch got a hold of that information the very next day. During the DoJ press conference, she ‘revealed’ that several companies linked to Red Granite had benefitted from the corrupt practices of 1MDB officials, resulting in money being laundered through the United States (US) financial system. Riza and McFarland, who serve as co-chairmen and producing partners in the company, were implied as having assisted these entities purchase assets worth approximately USD1billion using funds siphoned from the Malaysian wealth fund.
However, not only did Lynch lie, there is something very sinister about the whole affair that involves a complicity to move ill-gotten funds to and through the Clinton Foundation. Today, in part 18 of this series (links below article), I am going to lay bare that complicity and tell you why Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, a former Malaysian premier, arranged to transfer the USD5 million I made public last Saturday, the 17th of June 2017 (READ HERE).
But first, the DoJ announcement:
Why was it a lie?
On the 2nd of April 2017, Hilary Rodham Clinton undertook to enter an agreement with Khadem Al-Qubaisi, the former Managing Director (MD) of an Abu Dhabi investment firm, the International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC). Mrs. Clinton, then in the running for the White House, agreed to pay the Emirati businessman USD700 million in return for some assets worth approximately USD1.25 billion.
Nine days later, Peter Comey arranged to conceal transfers worth USD700 million from the Clinton Foundation to offshore entities based in the British Virgin Islands (BVI). These entities were linked to Qubaisi despite being registered under the names of some Emirati stockbrokers and Americans attached to Barclays and JP Morgan & Chase.
Peter is the brother of fired FBI director James Comey and is a senior director at DLA Piper, a multinational law firm with over 30 branches around the world. Assigned to handle taxes for the Clinton Foundation and the Clinton Family Foundation, Peter undertook to write the USD700 million off as ‘donations for charitable causes’ and sought tax exemptions for the Clintons.
On the 1st of July 2016, the Clinton Foundation pledged to transfer equity and property worth USD350 million to persons associated with James, then the director of the FBI. The transfers were contingent upon and subject to terms of a very secret agreement James entered with Mrs. Clinton on the 17th of May 2016.
Under the terms of the agreement, James was to keep secret the billion dollars that a group of Emiratis contributed to the Clinton Foundation and the Clinton Family Foundation between the years 2012 and 2013. The contribution constituted payoffs for strategic intelligence and defense secrets belonging to the US government that Mrs. Clinton leaked to the Emiratis within the said period. Now, these secrets – the leak of which you’re reading for the very first time here – were eventually sold to ISIS and other militant groups scattered across Libya, Saudi Arabia, the Republic of Qatar and Kuwait. The sales fetched the Clintons some USD5 billion, a quarter of which flowed though the Clinton Foundation and the Clinton Family foundation between the months of January and February 2016.
By March, the Clinton’s were worth a whopping USD30 billion, discounting, of course, the sum in dollars they siphoned from the Democratic National Committee (DNC) between the months of April and July 2016. Lynch knew all about the funds Mrs. Clinton sponged off the DNC records, but couldn’t do much as she herself was on the ‘Clinton payroll’.
On the 5th of July 2016, a much wealthier James announced that his office would not recommend prosecutors to charge Mrs. Clinton for “mishandling sensitive government information” while she was Secretary of State. The announcement rocked the Trump presidential campaign – Trump and his supporters were convinced that Mrs. Clinton would be buried under the email trove WikiLeaks had dumped into the internet earlier.
READ MORE HERE
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