by RAHIMI YUNUS / pic by BERNAMA

RIZA Shahriz Abdul Aziz (picture), the stepson of former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Razak, has agreed to forfeit assets worth over US$60 million (RM248.7 million) linked to 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) in a settlement with the US Department of Justice (DoJ).

The DoJ, in a statement, said the assets that are subject to settlement include the sale proceeds of a high-end real estate acquired in Beverly Hills, a luxury condominium in New York City, the sale proceeds of an investment made by Riza Shahriz in a Kentucky-based maintenance company, a luxury London townhouse and a promotional poster for the 1927 motion picture film “Metropolis”.

With the conclusion of the settlement, the US prosecutor said it has recovered or assisted in the recovery of nearly US$1.1 billion in assets associated with the 1MDB international money laundering and bribery scheme.

The sum of recouped assets is the largest recovery to date under the department’s Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative and the largest civil forfeiture ever concluded by the DoJ.

“With more than US$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,” US attorney Nick Hanna of the Central District of California said in the statement.

The DoJ also expressed appreciation for the assistances provided by the Attorney General’s Chambers of Malaysia, the Royal Malaysia 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.

“This forfeiture sends a clear signal that the department will not allow wrongdoers to use the US financial system to launder the proceeds of their illegal activity,” acting assistant attorney general Brian C Rabbitt of the DoJ’s Criminal Division.

According to the civil forfeiture complaints from 2009 through 2015, more than US$4.5 billion in 1MDB funds were allegedly misappropriated by high-level 1MDB officials and their associates, and laundered through financial institutions in several jurisdictions including the US, Switzerland, Singapore and Luxembourg.

Riza Shahriz, the producer of “The Wolf of Wall Street”, had been discharged not amounting to acquittal (DNAA) on money-laundering charges involving US$248 million allegedly linked to 1MDB in May.

Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court Judge Azman Ahmad granted the DNAA after the prosecution and defence reached an agreement through representations filed by the accused.

Under the agreed terms, the government is expected to recover overseas assets involved in the offence, which is estimated at US$107.3 million.

On July 5 last year, Riza Shahriz was charged with five counts of money laundering on funds channelled to Red Granite Pictures, a

Hollywood production house that he co-founded in 2010.

Meanwhile, Malaysia reportedly had received the US$2.5 billion payment promised by Goldman Sachs Group Inc under its 1MDB settlement agreement with the government, according to Bloomberg.

Putrajaya is said to receive the funds in its escrow account and the money is expected to be utilised to repay 1MDB’s outstanding debt, including US$3.5 billion of bonds due in 2022 and 2023.

In July, Goldman Sachs reached a settlement agreement of US$3.9 billion, comprising a US$2.5 billion payout to the government and a guarantee of recovering at least US$1.4 billion in assets linked to 1MDB seized around the world, for all the criminal and regulatory proceedings in Malaysia.