United States Reaches Settlement to Recover More Than $60 Million in Assets Allegedly Acquired with Embezzled 1MDB Funds

LOS ANGELES – The Department of Justice has reached a settlement of its civil forfeiture cases against assets acquired by Riza Aziz utilizing funds allegedly embezzled 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 are estimated to be worth more than $60 million. With this settlement, together with the prior disposition of other related forfeiture cases, the United States will have recovered or assisted in the recovery of nearly $1.1 billion in assets associated with the 1MDB international money laundering and bribery scheme. This represents the largest civil forfeiture ever concluded by the Justice Department.

“With more than $1 billion forfeited as a result of our 1MDB-related asset forfeiture cases, we continue to shed light on the massive fraud and money laundering scheme that brazenly stole public funds belonging to the people of Malaysia,” said United States Attorney Nick Hanna. “The high-end properties across the nation that have now been seized and forfeited demonstrate our commitment to preventing corrupt actors from using the United States as a place to hide stolen riches.”

“As alleged in the forfeiture complaints, Riza Aziz and others collectively laundered billions of dollars pilfered from 1MDB, an investment fund intended to benefit the Malaysian people,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian C. Rabbitt of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Aziz and his co-conspirators allegedly diverted these funds for their own benefit and used them to acquire luxury real estate in New York and London and to make personal investments. The forfeiture of these assets will add to the almost $1.1 billion stolen from 1MDB that the U.S. Department of Justice has so far helped recover and return to the Malaysian people. This forfeiture sends a clear signal that the Department will not allow wrongdoers to use the U.S. financial system to launder the proceeds of their illegal activity.”

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. Those funds allegedly were laundered through financial institutions in several jursidictions by Malaysian public officials and their associates, including Aziz. 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, the claimants in the U.S. forfeiture actions agreed to forfeit all assets subject to pending forfeiture complaints in which they have a potential interest. Claimants are also required to cooperate and assist the Justice Department in the orderly transfer, management and disposition of the relevant assets. The assets subject to the settlement agreement include the sale proceeds of high-end real estate acquired in Beverly Hills, as well as a luxury condominium in New York City; the sale proceeds of an investment made by Aziz in a Kentucky maintenance company; a luxury London townhome; and a promotional poster for the 1927 motion picture “Metropolis.”

“This case represents significant, unwavering investigative work by the FBI's International Corruption Team and our partners,” said Assistant Director Calvin Shivers of the FBI's Criminal Investigative Division. “Riza Aziz and his co-conspirators misappropriated and laundered billions of dollars away from Malaysian people for their personal gain, and they will not be permitted to profit. The FBI is committed to bringing all those who participated in this heinous scheme to justice and holding them accountable for the illicit actions.”

“The recent seizure of $60 million is another step on the path to return embezzled funds to the people of Malaysia,” said Don Fort, Chief, IRS Criminal Investigation. “IRS-CI is committed to ensuring monies stolen from 1MDB are returned to their rightful beneficiaries and used for their original intended purpose.”

The assets being forfeited subject to this settlement are in addition to the more than $1 billion in assets the United States previously forfeited in connection with the Department of Justice’s 1MDB investigation. Following the 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 IRS Criminal Investigation are investigating this matter.

Assistant United States Attorneys Jonathan Galatzan and Steven R. Welk of the Asset Forfeiture Section in Los Angeles are working with Deputy Chief Woo S. Lee and Trial Attorneys Barbara Levy, Jonathan Baum and Joshua Sohn of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section to prosecute the cases. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided substantial assistance.

The Justice 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.

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.

SOURCE malaysia-today.net/2017/06/24/mahathirs-secret-arrangement-with-the-clinton-foundation/

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 malaysia-today.net/2017/06/24/mahathirs-secret-arrangement-with-the-clinton-foundation/

'Wolf of Wall Street' Hollywood producer charged with
laundering $248 million in Malaysia 1MDB scandal
Associated Press Jul. 5, 2019

Aziz at left with DeCaprio.

Hollywood producer Riza Aziz pleaded not guilty on Friday to laundering $248 million from a Malaysian state investment fund in the 1MDB scandal. He is the stepson of Malaysia's former prime minister, and produced the movie "The Wolf of Wall Street" with his production company, Red Granite Pictures Inc. His stepfather and mother have been charged in the scandal, too, while his sister is defending Aziz and saying he's innocent. (Visit BusinessInsider.com for more stories.)

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — "The Wolf of Wall Street" producer and stepson of Malaysia's former prime minister pleaded not guilty on Friday to laundering $248 million from a state investment fund, becoming the third person in his family charged in the 1MDB scandal that helped end Najib Razak's government last year. Riza Aziz was solemn as he appeared in court to be charged with receiving the illicit funds between 2011 and 2012 in the US and Singapore.

The charge sheets said the money was misappropriated from 1MDB and channeled into bank accounts of Riza's company Red Granite Pictures Inc., which produced films including the Martin Scorsese-directed film starring Leonardo DiCaprio. The 2013 film was nominated for five Academy Awards, including best picture. (Read more: The bizarre story of the 1MDB scandal--link at web site.)

Actor Leonardo DiCaprio, in his role as Jordan Belfort in the 2013 film, "The Wolf of Wall Street." Paramount Pictures The money was transferred from Swiss bank accounts of two companies US investigators identified as being linked to 1MDB into Red Granite's accounts in the United States and Singapore, according to the charge sheets describing the evidence.

Riza, 42, was released on bail. He was charged with five counts of money laundering and could face up to five years in prison, a fine or both, on each count if he is convicted. Aziz's stepfather and mother have been charged in the scandal, too, and are also pleading not guilty Najib set up the 1MDB fund to finance development in Malaysia when he took office in 2009, but it accumulated billions in debts and US investigators allege at least $4.5 billion was stolen from the fund and laundered by Najib's associates.

Public anger over the alleged corruption contributed to the shocking election defeat of Najib's long-ruling coalition in May 2018, and the new government reopened investigations that had been stifled while Najib was in office. Najib is currently on trial for alleged criminal breach of trust, abuse of power and money laundering linked to 1MDB. He denies the charges. His wife and Riza's mother, Rosmah Mansor, also has pleaded not guilty to money laundering and tax evasion related to 1MDB but her trial date has not been set.

Riza's arraignment came a year after he was questioned by Malaysia's anti-graft agency. US investigators say Red Granite used money stolen from 1MDB to finance Hollywood films. Red Granite has paid the US government $60 million to settle claims it benefited from the 1MDB scandal, and the US returned the money to Malaysia. Riza's sister, Nooryana Najwa, has slammed the legal action against her brother. "Despite the settlement in the US and the fact that alleged wrongdoings occurred entirely outside of Malaysia, the MACC decides to press charges after a whole year of leaving this case in cold storage. He is not a criminal," she wrote on Instagram, accompanied by a picture of her with Riza taken before his arrest.

More: 1MDB Riza Aziz Malaysia Najib Razak https://www.businessinsider.com/riza-aziz-charged-1mdb-scandal-2019-7

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’.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

what better describes this escapade?
1. R.I.C.O?
2. Treason?

h/t Liz for details

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