Malaysia’s scandal-plagued 1MDB sues Amicorp, seeks $1 billion over alleged fraud | Corruption news

The scandal-hit fund says Amicorp was instrumental in laundering more than $7 billion.

Malaysia’s scandal-plagued fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad has said it will sue corporate services provider Amicorp Group and its CEO Toine Knipping for facilitating more than $7 billion in fraudulent transactions over five years.

Bankrupt 1MDB claims Headquartered in Hong Kong, Amicorp created and operated a complex conspiracy of shell companies, sham transactions and sham financial structures that concealed the true origin and destination of funds.

“We are bringing this action to seek justice for Amicorp’s role in the laundering and eventual destruction of billions of dollars in stolen funds,” 1MDB said in a statement on Monday.

He points out that Amicorp “played a significant role in defrauding the sovereign wealth fund by facilitating the laundering of more than $7 billion in embezzled funds between 2009 and 2014.”

1MDB said the stolen funds passed through Singapore, Barbados, Curaçao, Hong Kong and the British Virgin Islands.

He further alleged that Amicorp provided access to the global financial system through Barbados-registered Amicorp Bank and provided fund institutions and banking services to enable the recirculation of assets, thereby creating the impression that 1MDB’s assets were invested and earning income. . in fact, they have been appropriated.

The Malaysian fund said it was seeking compensation for damages caused by Amicorp’s breach of fiduciary duty and “unscrupulous” assistance in conspiracy to commit illegal acts, adding that the legal action was part of a global effort to recover stolen 1MDB assets.

Last week, a Malaysian court upheld the government’s application to bar PetroSaudi International and its chief executive from accessing $340 million linked to 1MDB.

Malaysia’s decision comes after Tarek Obaid, the Swiss-Saudi CEO of the oil exploration and production company, was sentenced to seven years in prison in August for embezzling $1.8 billion from 1MDB.

The multibillion-dollar financial scandal has sparked criminal investigations around the world for years, including in the United States, Switzerland and Singapore.

Investigators in Malaysia and the United States previously estimated that $4.5 billion was stolen from 1MDB by a handful of people since its inception in 2009 and used to buy everything from artwork to superyachts.

The scandal also led to the overthrow of the government of Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak in 2018. Najib is currently serving a six-year prison sentence for corruption related to the massive 1MDB financial scandal.

He has filed an appeal to serve the remainder of his sentence under house arrest, and a hearing has been set for January 6.