US Department of Justice announcement illegal, done in bad faith
THE THIRD FORCE
1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), in a press release today (READ HERE), noted the contents of a civil lawsuit filed by the United States (US) Department of Justice (DoJ) yesterday against certain assets.
In a statement dated the 15th of June 2017 (READ HERE), the DoJ announced the filing of civil forfeiture complaints seeking the forfeiture and recovery of approximately $540 million in assets associated with an international conspiracy to launder funds allegedly misappropriated from the Malaysian wealth fund.
According to the DoJ, the aggregate, when combined with civil forfeiture complaints filed in July 2016 seeking more than $1 billion and civil forfeiture complaints filed last week seeking approximately $100 million in assets, represents the largest action brought under the Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative.
However, in a press release dated the 21st of July 2017 (READ HERE), 1MDB highlighted that neither was it a party to the civil suit nor did it have assets in the US, adding that the fund had never benefitted from transactions described in the July 2016 suit.
To date, the US DoJ has yet to seek clarification or cooperation from 1MDB or its attendant concerns into discoveries the DoJ claimed it was conducting in conjunction with and apropos the July 2016 announcement which legal experts from California have adjudged to be illegal and ultra vires.
The Californian team affirms the recent DoJ announcement was illegal and conducted in bad faith, against established legal practices with intent to falsely implicate the Malaysian government of wrongdoing.
