PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia has secured the return of 12 high-value paintings linked to 1MDB following a formal agreement with the US Justice Department, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission said today.
The paintings, owned by Jasmine Loo, former general counsel of 1MDB, were in the custody of the DoJ and were held by auction houses Christie’s and Sotheby’s. They are valued at over US$30 million (about RM120 million). They would be returned by the DoJ to Malaysia through MACC, the commission said in a statement today.
MACC said the agreement followed two rounds of official talks with officials of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation and Justice Department in Washington DC and New York in December last year.
Among the identified works of art are Pablo Picasso’s lithograph L’Ecuyere et les Clowns, a Joan Miró’s work in the Composition series, William H Bailey’s Still Life; Alexander Calder’s Studies for Sculpture; and a work by Henri Matisse in his Femme Assise series.
The titles of the art works stated by MACC refer to a series of lithographs, prints or paintings done by the artists. It is currently not known which painting or lithograph in the various series was seized.
MACC said the discussions also included the case of US rapper Pras Michel, who was sentenced to 14 years in prison for receiving US$120 million, a sum partly linked to 1MDB and its shell companies.
The commission said it had been informed that assets belonging to wanted financier Jho Low are still in Singapore, which were not included in the US settlement agreement.
Discussions also reportedly covered the cases of 1MDB-linked personalities Tim Leissner, Tarek Obaid and Riza Aziz, as well as the PetroSaudi company, linked to deals with 1MDB, and the legal firm of White & Case.
MACC also confirmed that assets in Hong Kong, Singapore, and France have been liquidated, with the proceeds to be transferred to the United States.
