KUALA LUMPUR (June 5): The US federal government has sold an apartment at 15 West 63rd Street that it had seized from Riza Aziz, stepson of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and the producer of “The Wolf of Wall Street”, for US$16.8 million in exchange for dismissing money laundering charges.
The sale was listed by the New York Times (NYT) yesterday as among the most expensive residential buildings in New York City, and arguably the world’s most profitable resale.
NYT said a three-bedroom apartment at the limestone tower at 220 Central Park South, the most expensive residential building in New York City, sold for US$33 million, which was the city’s biggest closing during the month of May.
The report added that the three-bedroom aerie encompassing half the 55th floor closed at the full asking price of US$33 million, which was 23% more than the nearly US$26.8 million the unknown seller had paid in late 2019.
NYT said the deal — the city’s biggest in the month of May — could serve as a bellwether for determining whether other apartments in the nearly sold-out condominium complex will hold their value.
It said the month’s runner-up sale, at US$18 million, and the largest co-op transaction, was a duplex at 300 Central Park West, also known as the Eldorado, that was sold by Kenneth Lerer, a media executive who is a founder of the HuffPost, and his wife Katherine Sailer, an interior designer.
On May 14 last year, Riza was granted a discharge not amounting to an acquittal by the Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court on the condition that he disgorge assets amounting to US$108 million, cash of about US$14 million — both allegedly linked to funds stolen from 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) — as well as pay a compound fine under Section 92 of Act 613, reportedly amounting to RM500,000.