Good response from Singapore, US over Malaysia's request, PDRM optimistic 1MDB assets can be returned

KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia’s request for the repatriation of the misappropriated 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) assets worth RM93.2 million linked to former 1MDB lawyer Jasmine Loo Ai received positive response from the authorities in Singapore and the United States.

Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department (JSJK) director Datuk Seri Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf said the police were optimistic that the assets could be returned to the country.

He said the request to bring back the 1MDB assets also came from Loo herself.

"The request to bring back the assets has been sent to the relevant authorities in the countries involved including Singapore and the United States," he told a press conference after the launch of the JSJK Anti-Scam Kapcai Ride at the Kuala Lumpur Police Training Centre here today.

Loo, the former 1MDB group strategic executive director who is said to be a close associate of fugitive Jho Low, was arrested on July 7 to assist in the investigation of the company's misappropriation of funds.

Regarding the police investigation into former Goldman Sachs banker Roger Ng Chong Hwa, Ramli said it was still at an early stage.

Local media reported that Ng, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison in New York, USA, for helping to embezzle billions of dollars in 1MDB funds, was brought back to Malaysia by a special PDRM team to assist in the investigation into the scandal.

On Dec 19, 2018, Roger Ng claimed trial to four charges of conspiring with Goldman Sachs, in relation to the sale of 1MDB bonds worth US$6.5 billion by omitting material facts and making false statements.

On Jan 9 this year, the High Court here granted him a discharge not amounting to acquittal over four charges of abetting Goldman Sachs. - BERNAMA