Malaysia recovers 323 million USD stolen from 1MDB hinh anh 1Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak. (Photo: AFP/VNA)

Kuala Lumpur (VNA) – Malaysia has recovered 1.4 billion ringgit (323 million USD) stolen from the country’s development fund 1MDB, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin's office said on March 17.

Another 6.9 billion ringgit sourced from the scandal-hit fund has been identified and steps are being taken to recover the money, the office added.

The US Department of Justice (DoJ) returned to Malaysia nearly 200 million USD recovered from asset seizures linked to the 1MDB in May 2019, but the second transfer of about 240 million USD was delayed last month.

Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak founded the 1MDB investment fund in 2009, supposedly to serve Malaysia’s development through global partnerships and foreign direct investment.

Malaysian and US investigators believe that the fund has looted about 4.5 billion USD, about 1 billion USD of which was sent to the Najib’s personal bank account.

The allegations contributed to Nazib’s shock election loss in 2018 and he has since been put on trial over the scandal. At least six countries are investigating the scandal.

Last September, the DoJ reached a deal with Malaysian financier Jho Low to retake almost 1 billion USD in funds Low and his family had misappropriated from the 1MDB./
VNA