US DoJ civil action will not affect bilateral ties, says ambassador
KUALA LUMPUR: The legal action by the US Department of Justice (DoJ) over alleged misappropriation of 1MDB funds will not affect MalaysiaUS ties, says outgoing US Ambassador to Malaysia Joseph Yun.
He said the action was a civil case that was mainly about protecting the US financial and banking system under the department’s Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative.
The initiative was set up by the United States in 2010 to curb high-level public corruption around the world.
“You should know that this is a civil case which is yet to have its first hearing, so we should really wait for the first hearing before we see where this goes.
“Since this is about protecting the US financial system and as it is a civil case, I see no effect that this should have on our bilateral relations,” the envoy said in a farewell interview.
Asked when the first hearing on the DoJ case will take place, Yun said: “This is a civil case that is done within the DoJ.
“They determine how to move on and so it is really up to them.”
Yun, 61, who was posted here in 2013, ends his tour of duty on Friday to take up next assignment as the State Department’s Special Representative for North Korea Policy.
On the US Visa Waiver Programme for Malaysia, he said the United States was getting “quite close” to a decision, with two key agreements signed to exchange data on criminals and terrorists.
“I’m very hopeful that within a reasonably short time, Malaysia will be eligible so that more Malaysians can travel to the US,” said Yun during the interview yesterday.
On US presidential election candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton opposing the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA), Yun said he hoped the TPPA would be ratified by Congress by the time the new president is inaugurated.
Yun’s designated successor is Kamala Shirin Lakhdhir, who served as the executive assistant to the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, a position she held from 2011 to 2015.
On Thursday, Yun paid a farewell call on Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
“During my call on the PM, we reminisced quite a bit about President Obama’s two trips to Malaysia, and as you know it has been so long since previous American presidents visited Malaysia.
“We talked about President Obama’s policies towards the region and the PM was appreciative of how the president spent so much time in the region,” he added.