This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on November 1, 2019

KUALA LUMPUR: The settlement with the US Department of Justice (DoJ) does not mean that fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho, better known as Jho Low, is free from any criminal charges.

In a press statement, the US DoJ pointed out that Jho Low separately faces charges in the Eastern District of New York for conspiring to launder billions of dollars embezzled from 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) and for conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by paying bribes to various Malaysian and Emirati officials, and in the District of Columbia (DC) for conspiring to make and conceal foreign and conduit campaign contributions during the US presidential election in 2012.

The US authorities reiterated that the settlement does not release any entity or individual from filed or potential criminal charges.

“Following the conclusion of today’s settlement, several civil forfeiture complaints arising out of the 1MDB criminal conspiracy remain pending against assets associated with other alleged co-conspirators,” said the US DoJ.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s International Corruption Squads in New York City and Los Angeles and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division are investigating the case.

Deputy Chief Woo S Lee and Trial Attorneys Kyle R Freeny, Joshua L Sohn, Barbara Levy and Jonathan Baum of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section and Assistant US Attorneys John Kucera, Michael R Sew Hoy and Steven R Welk of the Central District of California are prosecuting the case.

The Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs is providing substantial assistance.

The US DoJ announced yesterday morning that it has reached a settlement of its civil forfeiture cases against assets acquired by Jho Low and his family using money allegedly misappropriated from 1MDB.

The assets, which are located in the US, the UK and Switzerland, are estimated to be worth more than US$700 million (RM2.93 billion).

Under the terms of the settlement, Jho Low, his family members, and FFP, a Cayman Islands entity serving as the trustees overseeing the assets at issue in these forfeiture actions, agreed to forfeit all assets subject to pending forfeiture complaints in which they have a potential interest.

The trustees are also required to cooperate and assist the Justice Department in the orderly transfer, management and disposition of the relevant assets.

From the assets formerly managed by FFP, the US will release US$15 million to Low’s counsel to pay for legal fees and costs.

Under the agreement, none of those fees may be returned to Low or his family members.

The assets subject to the settlement agreement include high-end real estate in Beverly Hills, New York and London, a luxury boutique hotel in Beverly Hills, and tens of millions of dollars in business investments that Low allegedly made with funds traceable to misappropriated 1MDB monies.

The assets being forfeited subject to the settlement are in addition to the nearly US$140 million in assets the US previously forfeited in connection with Low’s investment in a business entity related to the Park Lane Hotel in New York, as well as a super-yacht, valued at over US$120 million, seized by law enforcement authorities in Indonesia at the request of the DoJ and recovered by Malaysian authorities directly from Indonesia.