Us Delays Returning More 1mdb Funds To Malaysia Sources Say

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KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - The US Department of Justice has delayed the return to Malaysia of another US$240mil (RM1bil) of recovered money allegedly stolen from the 1MDB sovereign fund, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter said on Friday (March 6), with one citing political uncertainty
Malaysia was plunged into turmoil when 94-year-old prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad quit on Feb 24
He was replaced by Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, whose coalition includes the former ruling party that was voted out in 2018 amid accusations of corruption over 1MDB
The US Department of Justice says over US$4.5bil was looted from the fund under Umno's former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who is now on trial for corruption
Since 2016, the department has filed civil lawsuits seeking to seize about US$1.7bil in assets allegedly bought with stolen 1MDB funds
Last May, the United States began returning some of the recovered funds. The first instalment was nearly US$200mil
The DOJ had initially been scheduled to return the next payment of recovered funds to Malaysia on Feb 19, but there were technical reasons the transfer did not happen, the two sources said
The total amount was around RM1bil (US$240mil), one source said
But once Dr Mahathir resigned, it was decided to hold the payment due to uncertainty over what would happen next, one source said
The sources did not want to identified as they were not authorised to speak to media. A DOJ spokesman declined to comment
Malaysia's Finance Ministry redirected questions to the Attorney General's Chambers, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment
The sources said they were not aware of DOJ's next steps
The funds returned go into a special fund at Malaysia's Finance Ministry and are meant to be used to pay 1MDB's bondholders
American and Malaysian investigators have said Najib received about US$1bil of the stolen funds 1MDB funds. He has pleaded not guilty and says he was misled by Malaysian financier Jho Low and other 1MDB officials
It was only after Najib's unexpected defeat in the 2018 elections that the 1MDB investigation was reopened in Malaysia and trials began
Goldman Sachs and some of its executives are among the many charged for their role as underwriter and arranger of three bond sales that raised US$6.5bil for 1MDB. Three units of Goldman have pleaded not guilty to charges
Najib told Reuters this week that he expected an atmosphere more conducive to a fair hearing now that Dr Mahathir has gone
Muhyiddin has not talked about the 1MDB cases but has vowed to fight graft
Two senior officials in the Dr Mahathir administration fighting graft - the Attorney General and the chief of the anti-corruption commission - quit after Dr Mahathir's resignation. - Reuters

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