JPMorgan to pay 1MDB RM1.4b in settlement

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 And Umno and UG want to “free” this kleptocrat. - Facebook image

JPMorgan to pay 1MDB RM1.4b in settlement

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 221, 2025: Ten years after the shameless world’s biggest financial fraud in history was exposed, laundered monies are still being recovered for 1Malaysia Development Ber5had (1MDB).

JPMorgan Chase & Co is paying US$330 million (RM1.4 billion) to settle all existing and potential claims relating to 1MDB (Sovereign Wealth Fund), a move that will end its exposure to one of the biggest financial frauds in history.

This comes after Switzerland’s Attorney-General fined JPMorgan’s Swiss unit US$3.7 million for its part in enabling the laundering of funds misappropriated from 1MDB.

And in Malaysia, the corrupt-loving Umno wants to “free” the man behind the theft of millions, if not billions, of Ringgit from the rakyat dan negara (people and country).

That man is the disgraced and shameless former Umno president and prime minister Najib “1MDB” Razak.

Umno and the so-called Madani Unity Government (UG) are now considering placing Najib under house arrest (in Najib’s case bungalow arrest), also read as “backdoor freedom” so as to enable him to enjoy his ill-gotten gains.

That’s Umno and UG’s support for the corrupt, and Najib is still serving his jail sentence in Kajang Prison.

No News Is Bad News reproduces below a news report on JPMorgan and a Wikipedia background on the 1MDB financial scandal:

JPMorgan to pay US$330mil to Malaysia to settle 1MDB claim

Bloomberg

The fine relates to payments including 34 overseas transfers for a total of around CHF174 million that took place between 2014 and 2015.

Switzerland’s Attorney General fined JPMorgan’s Swiss unit US$3.7 million for its part in enabling the laundering of funds misappropriated from 1MDB. (AP pic)

NEW YORK: JPMorgan Chase & Co will pay RM1.4 billion (US$330 million) to Malaysia to resolve all existing and potential claims relating to the sovereign wealth fund 1MDB, a move that will end its exposure to one of the biggest financial frauds in history.

Under the settlement, the lender will – “without admission of liability” – contribute the sum to Malaysia’s Assets Recovery Trust Account, according to a statement today.

That came as Switzerland’s Attorney General announced it had fined JPMorgan’s Swiss unit CHF3 million (US$3.7 million) for its part in enabling the laundering of funds misappropriated from 1MDB.

The Attorney General’s office sentenced the bank “for failing to take all reasonable and necessary organisational measures to prevent acts of aggravated money laundering”.

“The fine relates to payments including 34 overseas transfers for a total of around CHF174 million that took place between October 2014 and July 2015,” the Swiss authorities said.

The 1MDB investment fund became the centre of a scandal that spawned probes across continents, with stolen funds estimated to have exceeded US$4 billion.

Investigations led to the imprisonment of ex-Goldman Sachs Group Inc executives and a former Malaysian prime minister.

Malaysian financier Jho Low remains a fugitive.

“We appreciate the collaboration with the Malaysian Government in resolving past matters related to 1MDB, which have been thoroughly reviewed,” JPMorgan said in a statement.

“Since then, we’ve enhanced our controls,” it added.

From Wikipedia - Background on the world biggest financial fraud in history - disgraced and shameless former prime minister Najib”1MDB” Razak’s 1Malaysia Development Berhad:

In January 2015, around 227,000 leaked documents related to the fraud were provided to investigative journalist Clare Rewcastle Brown, who writes Sarawak Report.[26] The documents were leaked by Swiss national Xavier Justo, a former PetroSaudi International employee.[319] Xavier Justo was then targeted by a violent online smear campaign led by "Team Jorge," an Israeli disinformation company working for wealthy clients. In late 2020, a website and YouTube channel impersonating him portrayed him as a mercenary who acted solely to enrich himself and whose word is unreliable. This site and channel are widely circulated on social networks by fake accounts as part of a larger smear operation, calling him a thief, a drug addict, a blackmailer.[320]

In February 2015, The Sunday Times and The Edge newspapers and Sarawak Report blog, referencing the leaked email correspondences and documents obtained by Rewcastle Brown, reported that Penang-based Low Taek Jho, who has ties Najib Razak, siphoned out US$700 million from a joint venture deal between 1MDB and PetroSaudi International through an entity named Good Star Ltd.[321][322][323][324][325] Although Low never received an official position in 1MDB, he is described as someone who was regularly consulted about 1MDB without having any decision-making authority.[326] An email revealed that Low had the loan approval from Najib for $1 billion without getting any approval from Bank Negara.[327][328]

According to a 2022 report by German local news site Neckarstadtblog,[329] Suaad A. Al-Attas, former wife of Mohammed Badawy Al Husseiny, received nearly US$40 million from the 1MDB scandal and later acted as a shareholder in a company owned by German real estate developer Tom Bock, providing a loan of nearly €5.5 million, suggesting that some of the funds used in the Turley real estate project in Mannheim, Germany, came from misappropriated funds from the 1MDB scandal.

Within Malaysia, The Edge was one of the few media outlets which published investigations on the scandal. Its license was suspended by the Malaysian government, in a move that its publisher suggested was censorship.[2]

Wall Street Journal reporting

See also: Billion Dollar Whale (book)

It was claimed through a report by The Wall Street Journal that 1MDB made overpriced purchases of power assets in Malaysia through Genting Group in 2012. Genting then allegedly donated this money to a foundation controlled by Najib, who used these funds for election campaign purposes during the 2013 general elections.[330][331][332] According to a news report quoting 1MDB, the company denied that it overpaid for its energy assets. 1MDB was quoted as saying that their energy acquisitions were made only when the company was convinced of its long-term value.[333]

Further allegations were made by The Wall Street Journal that $700 million was transferred from 1MDB and deposited in AmBank and Affin Bank accounts under Najib's name.[334][335] A task force to investigate these claims had frozen six bank accounts linked to Najib and 1MDB.[336][337] The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) subsequently, in August 2015, cleared 1MDB of this allegation. MACC issued a statement saying, among other things, "Results of the investigation have found that the RM2.6bil which was allegedly transferred into the account belonging to Najib Razak came from the contribution of donors, and not from 1MDB".[338]

Najib Razak had originally denied allegations that stolen money was found in his bank accounts, saying "If I wanted to steal, surely I won't steal the money and bring it into an account in Malaysia."[339] The WSJ responded by revealing the bank account details online to rebut the denials by Najib and his supporters.[340][341][342] Singapore police had frozen two Singapore bank accounts in connection with their own investigation into the alleged financial mismanagement at 1MDB, after reports stated that $700 million worth of deposits was moved through Falcon Bank in Singapore into Najib's personal accounts in Malaysia.[343][344] However, 1MDB denied having any knowledge of their accounts being frozen, and said they have not been contacted by any of the foreign investigating authorities.[345]

The WSJ also reported that 1MDB transferred around $850 million via three transactions in 2014 to a British Virgin Islands-registered company with a name disguising that it was controlled by International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC), a United Arab Emirates state investment vehicle, according to wire transfer documents.[346][347][348]

The WSJ released a report stating that 1MDB failed to pay $1.4 billion to IPIC. The money was owed to IPIC after it had guaranteed a US$3.5 billion bond issued by 1MDB to fund its purchase of power plant assets in 2012.[349][350][351] The WSJ released another report saying that a further $993 million was missing that 1MDB was supposed to pay IPIC.[352][353][354] 1MDB responded to the WSJ report, saying that the company continues to enjoy a strong business relationship with IPIC, as proven by the execution of a binding term sheet that saw IPIC assume obligation for a $3.5 billion bond, currently held by 1MDB, and followed a $1 billion cash payment made by IPIC to 1MDB in June.[355] Earlier in October 2015, IPIC reaffirmed their commitment to working with 1MDB and the Malaysian Ministry of Finance.[356]

Another report by the WSJ pointed out that 1MDB, in connection with a United States political fundraiser DuSable Capital Management LLC, signed a joint venture agreement creating a fund, Yurus PE Fund, to develop solar power plants in Malaysia.[357][358] Six months after the joint venture agreement was signed, 1MDB bought out DuSable's stake of 49% of Yurus for $69 million before any construction took place.[359][360] Based on bank transfer information, the WSJ reported that Najib spent close to $15 million on clothes, jewellery, and a car in places such as the United States, Singapore, and Italy using a credit card that was paid from one of several private bank accounts owned by Najib, to which 1MDB funds had been diverted.[361][362][363][364]