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THE government is expected to recover additional funds from the 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal, including money linked to PetroSaudi International’s former chief executive Tarek Obaid and family members of fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho, widely known as Jho Low.
Sources said the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission is actively working to reclaim about RM600 million believed to be linked to Tarek, while bank accounts held by Jho Low’s family are expected to be returned to the Malaysian government in the near future.
Funds and assets connected to these individuals are said to be within reach of the MACC, which now estimates that up to RM5 billion could be recovered in the next phase of asset repatriation.
MACC chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki said negotiations are currently under way with several countries, particularly the United States and the United Kingdom, to reach settlement agreements related to the 1MDB case.
“We expect to obtain around RM5 billion and various actions are currently being taken, including going to the United States and the United Kingdom to reach settlements with suspects involved in the 1MDB case.
“As an example, we are negotiating through a settlement mechanism with Tarek, which is expected to recover RM600 million,” he told BH.
BH previously reported that the MACC is still tracking about RM12 billion out of the estimated RM42 billion misappropriated from the government’s strategic investment company.
Of the RM42 billion traced to the 1MDB scandal, Malaysia has so far successfully recovered assets and funds totalling RM31.19 billion.
Azam, who was a guest on the BH-produced Borak Hari Ini podcast recorded at Balai Berita earlier this week, said the commission is confident of securing further recoveries in the near term.
“The total 1MDB funds that were misappropriated and traced amount to about RM42 billion, and we have already succeeded in recovering funds and assets worth around RM30 billion.
“That means there is still a balance of RM12 billion, but we expect to obtain about RM5 billion more.
“I do not know whether the RM5 billion can be brought back this year, but the MACC is working towards that and I want it to be done quickly,” he said.
When asked whether the RM5 billion could be recovered in the immediate future, Azam said there is no fixed timeline but stressed that decisive actions are being taken.
“As I have said, I want it resolved swiftly without any delay. I expect that with several individuals involved, the MACC will first recover 1MDB funds amounting to RM2.8 million,” he said.
Tarek Obaid, whose full name is Tarek Essam Ahmad Obaid, is an entrepreneur and co-founder as well as former chief executive of PetroSaudi International Ltd, a Saudi Arabia-based oil and gas company involved in various investments.
In August 2024, the Swiss Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona sentenced Tarek, then aged 48, to seven years’ imprisonment for misappropriation offences in Switzerland linked to 1MDB funds. Patrick Mahony, a 47-year-old director at a Geneva-based Saudi oil exploration and production company, was sentenced to six years’ imprisonment in the same case.
Obaid holds dual Swiss-Saudi citizenship, while Mahony is a dual Swiss-British national.
In March last year, the Kuala Lumpur High Court allowed the Malaysian government’s application for a prohibition order preventing Tarek Obaid and two companies from accessing 41 pieces of jewellery valued at £9 million, alleged to be linked to 1MDB funds.
The order was issued by judge K Muniandy after allowing an application by deputy public prosecutor Mahadi Abdul Jumaat under Section 53 of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001. - January 9, 2025
