Malaysia sues large global banks, ex-PM to recover billions from 1MDB debacle
Malaysia is suing units of Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan and private bank Coutts and a number of individuals including the country’s former prime minister Najib Razak to recover some more parts of losses totaling $23 billion from a corruption scandal at now-defunct state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad, or 1MDB, The Edge and Financial Times reported.
Among the banks, Malaysia through the legal entity of 1MDB is claiming $1.11 billion from Deutsche Bank (Malaysia), $800 million from JPMorgan (Switzerland) and $1.03 billion from a Swiss Coutts unit, plus interest.
The claims are grounded on alleged “negligence, breach of contract, conspiracy to defraud and/or injure and/or dishonest assistance,” 1MDB said in a filing to a Kuala Lumpur court on May 7.
On May 10, Malaysia’s finance ministry said that 1MDB and former subsidiary SRC International had filed a total of 22 civil suits seeking to recover the assets from entities and people allegedly involved in defrauding the fund and its ex-subsidiary.
Najib: “Lawsuit politically motivated”
According to people familiar with the matter, Najib Razak, 1MDB’s founder, and Jho Low, the Malaysian financier accused of masterminding the embezzlement scandal, are also being sued, the reports said.
Najib noted in a Facebook post on May 10 that the claim against him personally seemed intended to bankrupt him and suggested that the lawsuit was “politically motivated.” Last year, Najib was found guilty of corruption and money laundering in a 1MDB-linked case. He denies wrongdoing and is appealing the verdict.
The lawsuits come after Malaysia recovered nearly $5 billion in assets following deals over the past three years with US bank Goldman Sachs, which helped 1MDB raise billions of dollars in funds, as well as from auditing firm Deloitte and others.
Construction site site in Kuala Lumpur for one of 1MDB's urban projects Malaysia is suing units of Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan and private bank Coutts and a number of individuals including the country’s former prime minister Najib Razak to recover some more parts of losses totaling $23 billion from a corruption scandal at now-defunct state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad, or 1MDB, The Edge and Financial Times reported. Among the banks, Malaysia through the legal entity of 1MDB is claiming $1.11 billion from Deutsche Bank (Malaysia), $800 million from JPMorgan (Switzerland) and $1.03 billion from a Swiss Coutts unit, plus interest. The...
Malaysia is suing units of Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan and private bank Coutts and a number of individuals including the country’s former prime minister Najib Razak to recover some more parts of losses totaling $23 billion from a corruption scandal at now-defunct state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad, or 1MDB, The Edge and Financial Times reported.
Among the banks, Malaysia through the legal entity of 1MDB is claiming $1.11 billion from Deutsche Bank (Malaysia), $800 million from JPMorgan (Switzerland) and $1.03 billion from a Swiss Coutts unit, plus interest.
The claims are grounded on alleged “negligence, breach of contract, conspiracy to defraud and/or injure and/or dishonest assistance,” 1MDB said in a filing to a Kuala Lumpur court on May 7.
On May 10, Malaysia’s finance ministry said that 1MDB and former subsidiary SRC International had filed a total of 22 civil suits seeking to recover the assets from entities and people allegedly involved in defrauding the fund and its ex-subsidiary.
Najib: “Lawsuit politically motivated”
According to people familiar with the matter, Najib Razak, 1MDB’s founder, and Jho Low, the Malaysian financier accused of masterminding the embezzlement scandal, are also being sued, the reports said.
Najib noted in a Facebook post on May 10 that the claim against him personally seemed intended to bankrupt him and suggested that the lawsuit was “politically motivated.” Last year, Najib was found guilty of corruption and money laundering in a 1MDB-linked case. He denies wrongdoing and is appealing the verdict.
The lawsuits come after Malaysia recovered nearly $5 billion in assets following deals over the past three years with US bank Goldman Sachs, which helped 1MDB raise billions of dollars in funds, as well as from auditing firm Deloitte and others.
