KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 29 — Malaysian sovereign wealth fund 1MDB said today it has been cleared to proceed with legal claims against Swiss private bank BSI for financial loses arising from unauthorised fund transfers.
1Malaysia Development Berhad, which was at the centre of a massive financial scandal that brought down the government of Malaysia’s then-prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak in 2018, has accused BSI of facilitating the transfers and orchestrating money laundering schemes that led to the pilfering of its assets.
The fund said on Thursday that the High Court in Singapore dismissed an application by BSI to dismiss a US$394 million (RM1.7 billion) claim 1MDB and a subsidiary had lodged against the bank, clearing the way for the case to proceed.
A spokesperson for the 1MDB Board said in a statement that the fund was “pleased” with the ruling.
“We are… committed to holding accountable the institutions and individuals involved in misappropriating money from Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund, while ensuring the recovery and restitution of these assets back to the Malaysian people,” the spokesperson said.
BSI was placed under liquidation in 2017.
The claim against BSI is part of 1MDB’s ongoing global effort to recover billions of dollars of money siphoned from the company.
The court’s decision is the second legal victory for 1MDB in as many days.
On Wednesday, a top Swiss court sentenced two PetroSaudi executives to jail terms after finding them guilty of embezzling US$1.8 billion from 1MDB.
Tarek Obaid, 48, the Swiss-Saudi chief executive of the oil exploration and production company, was sentenced to seven years in prison by Switzerland’s Federal Criminal Court.
His right-hand man Patrick Mahony, 47, a Swiss-British director at Geneva-based PetroSaudi, was given a six-year sentence by the court.
They were found guilty over their parts in a vast embezzlement orchestrated by Jho Low, an advisor to Najib.
Ex-premier Najib is currently in jail in Malaysia for corruption related to the scandal while Low remains a fugitive.
The multi-billion-dollar 1MDB financial scandal has led to criminal investigations around the world, including in the United States, Switzerland and Singapore.
It is alleged that billions of dollars were pilfered from the fund by a number of people and used to buy items ranging from artwork to a superyacht. — AFP