U.S. AUTHORITIES OUT TO SEIZE LOW’S ASSETS

Justice Department says forfeiture suits have been filed to recover US$96m in assets

UNITED States prosecutors expanded their effort to seize assets that fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho allegedly bought with money stolen from the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) strategic development company, including a Paris apartment and artworks by Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat.

Forfeiture suits filed on Wednesday in Los Angeles seek to recover US$96 million in assets, the Justice Department said.

The US has filed dozens of such claims over four years to seize US$1.8 billion in assets from Low and alleged associates, including luxury homes in Beverly Hills, London and New York, a private airplane and a superyacht.

So far, about US$1.1 billion has been collected.

Among the items targeted in the latest suits is a US$6 million Warhol “Campbell’s Soup Can” painting and a US$10 million work by Claude Monet.

Prosecutors already took possession of a US$4 million Basquiat self-portrait and US$1 million Warhol “Round Jackie” portrait that Low gifted to others, according to the complaint.

The US has sent about US$600 million back to Malaysia as part of its effort to seize and liquidate the assets.

They include real estate, business investments, artwork and jewellery that Low, his family and cronies acquired with the money they are accused of stealing from 1MDB after it was set up in 2009.

While Low has denied wrongdoing, he and his family last year dropped their defence of the forfeiture suits that have been pending in a federal court in Los Angeles, which has allowed the government to seize more than US$700 million in assets.

Some of the real estate, including luxury condominiums in New York and mansions in Beverly Hills, have been put on the market.