‘Repatriated 1MDB funds will be used to service debts’
Funds received through the repatriation of 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) assets will be used to service debts amounting to RM51 billion.
Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said the figure included the interest borne and loans from the Finance Ministry of RM8.6 billion that was used to repay 1MDB’s debts.
“The funds will also be used to pay legal and litigation costs arising from efforts to repatriate and dispose of 1MDB assets around the world.
“The repatriation of these assets is a first step towards resolving the issues that surround 1MDB and the recovery of Malaysia’s reputation so that the country will no longer be known as a kleptocratic nation.
“The repatriation of these assets through legal processes proves that 1MDB-related wrongdoings have occurred,” he said in a statement.
The repatriation of 1MDB assets from the United States, Lim said, involved Park Lane Hotel in Manhattan with an asset value of US$139 million (RM570 million), Red Granite Film Production Company, worth US$57 million, and luxury yacht Equanimity, worth US$126 million. He said Malaysia had received repatriation of 1MDB assets from Singapore worth S$15 million (RM45 million) and was expected to receive another S$35 million.
He said the government would continue its efforts to recover other 1MDB assets.
He said the government would strengthen internal controls and anti-corruption initiatives to prevent such incidents from recurring.
Lim extended the ministry’s appreciation over efforts and cooperation of the international authorities involved in the investigation, litigation and settlement of this case.
He said this in response to the Attorney-General’s Chambers’ announcement that US$322 million from 1MDB assets had been returned to Malaysia following the United States’ Department of Justice’s (DoJ) Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative.
This amount constitutes a portion of the US$4.5 billion that the DoJ found to have been wrongly diverted from 1MDB, said Lim, adding that the DoJ’s decision was the latest after a Singaporean court instructed S$50 million in 1MDB-related funds to be returned to Malaysia.