US to recover Monet, Warhol from Jho Low over 1MDB scandal

Jho Low, the fugitive Malaysian financier, will forfeit more than US$100 million (S$135.7 million) including a luxury Paris apartment and works by Claude Monet and Andy Warhol to settle civil forfeiture cases over his role in the 1MDB bribery and embezzlement scandal.

The US Department of Justice announced the forfeiture on Wednesday, after US District Judge Dale Fischer in Los Angeles approved a consent agreement with Low and his family on Monday.

The forfeited assets are in addition to nearly US$1 billion, including a $120 million "superyacht," that Low and his family previously forfeited.

Low still faces criminal money laundering and bribery conspiracy charges in Brooklyn, New York, over 1MDB, a sovereign wealth fund also known as 1Malaysia Development Berhad.

US and Malaysian authorities have said more than US$4.5 billion was looted from 1MDB between 2009 and 2015, with some money sent to offshore bank accounts and shell companies linked to Low.

The financier had helped former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak set up 1MDB to promote economic development.

Goldman Sachs, which helped 1MDB sell bonds, reached a US$2.9 billion settlement in 2020 of a US criminal case concerning 1MDB. The bank is not part of the civil forfeiture.

Lawyers for Low did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The Justice Department said Low paid about US$35 million for Monet's Vetheuil au Soleil, Warhol's Colored Campbell's Soup Can (Emerald Green), 1965 and the Paris apartment.

Low and his family will also give up US$67 million of real estate and bank accounts in Hong Kong, Singapore and Switzerland.

The Justice Department said it has helped return to Malaysia more than US$1.5 billion associated with 1MDB, in the department's largest-ever civil forfeiture case.

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