KUALA LUMPUR: State fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) has remitted the equivalent of $350 million (SR1.31 billion) to Abu Dhabi’s government-owned International Petroleum Investment Co. (IPIC), it said on Friday.
“All funds paid to IPIC are from proceeds of the ongoing rationalization program,” 1MDB said in a statement.
Abu Dhabi this week extended a deadline for the troubled Malaysian fund to make a $603 million debt payment, provided at least $310 million was paid by Aug. 12.
The balance of the payment obligation to IPIC was now due on August 31, 1MDB added.
The US Justice Department is conducting a criminal probe 1MDB and has asked for a stay on its civil lawsuits in connection with $1.7 billion in assets allegedly bought with money stolen from the scandal-hit state fund.
A total of $4.5 billion was misappropriated from 1MDB by high-level officials of the fund and their associates, according to dozens of civil lawsuits filed by the US Justice Department in the past two years.
1MDB did not immediately respond to an e-mailed request for comment.
The department wants to delay the civil proceedings, saying that any disclosures would have an “adverse effect” on the government’s ability to conduct its criminal probe, according to the latest court filing lodged at the Central District Court in California on Thursday.
The criminal investigation was started before the civil lawsuits, the department said. It said the investigation was “global in scope”, with crimes committed over several years in numerous countries.
In a declaration included in the filing, a Federal Bureau of Investigation agent said that disclosures were “likely to reveal potential targets and subjects of the investigation”.
“Such disclosures could result in the destruction of evidence, flight of potential subjects and targets, or the identification and intimidation of potential witnesses,” the agent said.
Malaysia’s 1MDB says $350 million paid to Abu Dhabi for debt deal
Malaysia’s 1MDB says $350 million paid to Abu Dhabi for debt deal
