1MDB: Jasmine Loo reaches deal with US DOJ over civil claims

Former 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) counsel Jasmine Loo Ai Swan reached a deal with US Department of Justice to hand over a Picasso painting a Swiss bank account linked to alleged stolen 1MDB funds.

In a statement DOJ said the deal settles the civil case over these assets valued at RM8.42 million.

It does not however free Loo from criminal claims.

DOJ also has secured forfeiture orders for other assets allegedly acquired with 1MDB funds by fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho, also known as Jho Low.

These assets include diamond jewelry and artwork by Vincent Van Gogh, Claude Monet, Pablo Picasso, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Diane Arbus.

Together with Loo’s assets, the collective value of these assets is estimated to be nearly RM397 million.

Prior to this DOJ initiated numerous civil forfeiture cases against assets acquired by Low and his co-conspirators unsing 1MDB funds.

“From 2009 through 2015, more than $4.5 billion (RM21 billion) in 1MDB funds were allegedly misappropriated by high-level officials and their associates, including Low and Loo, through a criminal conspiracy involving international money laundering and bribery,” the DOJ said, NST reported.