Once conduits for hundreds of millions of dollars looted from 1MDB, a group of offshore entities are being repurposed to try to track down the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund’s stolen money, Bloomberg News reported. Three British Virgin Islands-based companies linked to 1MDB on Tuesday filed for chapter 15 bankruptcy in Florida, utilizing the section of the U.S. code that allows foreign debtors to bring proceedings in the states. Their aim is to recover a portion of the $8.5 billion allegedly stolen from 1MDB, some of which may be in the U.S., the companies said. The offshore entities were “part of the fraud perpetrated against 1 Malaysia Development Berhad,” they said in the filing, with some likely created solely to receive stolen funds or transfer them on to other entities. They are now being overseen by administrators appointed by the Malaysian government. The overseers for the funds “have identified various individuals and entities located in the United States who either participated or otherwise possess knowledge” related to the transactions at issue, according to court papers. “Some of the missing funds passed through U.S. entities, including investment managers, fund managers and other U.S. entities who provided services to the participants in the fraud.”
