PETALING JAYA: The US Justice Department has reached an agreement with 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) former general counsel Jasmine Loo (pic).
It said in a statement that the agreement is to “recover artwork by Pablo Picasso and a financial account in Switzerland traced to funds allegedly embezzled from 1MDB”.
“Additionally, the Justice Department has obtained forfeiture orders on other assets allegedly purchased with 1MDB funds by Low Taek Jho, also known as Jho Low,” it said yesterday.
It added that this includes diamond jewellery and artwork by Vincent Van Gogh, Claude Monet, Pablo Picasso, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Diane Arbus.
The department said the agreement with Loo resolves the civil forfeiture action against the Picasso artwork and financial account in Switzerland under her control.
It added that the artwork and the account are worth around US$1.8mil (RM8.41mil).
“The agreement with Loo does not release any criminal claims against her,” said the department.
It added that the forfeiture of the other artwork and jewellery allegedly purchased by Low is based on a recent settlement agreement entered into in connection with real estate and artwork forfeitures in two other cases.
The department said this resolves three additional civil forfeiture cases filed in the US District Court for the Central District of California.
This comes after it brought civil forfeiture cases against assets that it alleges were acquired by Low and his co-conspirators using funds allegedly embezzled from 1MDB.
Low remains a fugitive from prosecution by both US authorities and Malaysia.
In June, he reached a deal with the US Justice Department to return more than US$100mil of assets, which the government alleges he acquired using funds from 1MDB.
He was charged along with former Goldman Sachs Group Inc banker Roger Ng, who was convicted at trial in New York in 2022.
