InfoBytes Blog
Malaysian national extradited to the United States on embezzlement and FCPA charges in Malaysian fund scheme
On May 6, the DOJ announced that a Malaysian national was extradited to the United States from Malaysia on charges of conspiracy to embezzle and to violate the FCPA’s anti-bribery and accounting provisions in connection with a scheme relating to a Malaysia government-run strategic development fund. The Malaysian national was a former Managing Director at a financial institution. The indictment against him alleges that between 2009 and 2014, he conspired with others to launder billions of dollars embezzled from the development fund, including money from three bond offerings underwritten by the financial institution in 2012 and 2013, and that he conspired to bribe government officials in Malaysia and Abu Dhabi to obtain and retain business for the financial institution, including the bond transactions. DOJ alleges that the financial institution received approximately $600 million in fees and revenues from its work for the fund, and that he and his co-conspirators embezzled more than $2.7 billion from the fund's bond deals. In his first court appearance, he pleaded not guilty to the charges, and press coverage reported a federal magistrate judge’s statement that he and the DOJ are engaged in plea negotiations, but his defense counsel denied the judge’s characterization.
As detailed in prior FCPA Scorecard coverage, an alleged co-conspirator and former managing director of the same financial institution pleaded guilty in November 2018 to conspiracy to violate the FCPA and to commit money laundering. Another charged co-conspirator has not appeared in court.