Manhattan penthouse bought with stolen 1MDB fund up in the market

KUALA LUMPUR (June 26): A penthouse in Manhattan’s Walker Tower, USA, allegedly purchased with money funnelled from 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), will be put up for sale. It is valued at US$51 million (RM211 million).

The US Justice Department (DoJ) claims the luxury pad was acquired by Khadem Abdulla al Qubaisi in 2014. He was recently handed down a 15-year imprisonment sentence in Abu Dhabi for his collusion in the financial scandal spanning across the globe.

Bloomberg reported today that “US prosecutors and lawyers representing the trust that owns the property on Tuesday asked a federal judge in Los Angeles overseeing the civil forfeiture lawsuit to let them move forward with selling it”.

*Two alleged 1MDB co-conspirators sent to jail in Abu Dhabi

Khadem Abdulla was formerly the managing director of Abu Dhabi’s government-owned International Petroleum Investment Co. He was also the former chairman of restaurant and nightclub operator Hakkasan Group.

The DoJ said Khadem Abdulla pocketed US$473 million siphoned from 1MDB in 2012, aided by Jho Low. The proceeds has reportedly also been used to purchase a US$31 million mansion in Beverly Hills, California.