KUALA LUMPUR, April 28 — The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) today confirmed it was seeking clarification from the relevant authorities in Germany over the seizure of four Bugatti Veyrons allegedly linked to the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal.
MACC Chief Commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki said his agency had on October 26, 2022 requested information from Germany regarding luxury cars that were allegedly purchased using funds siphoned from 1MDB.
“MACC has commenced investigations into the issue since 2020 and a Mutual Legal Assistance request to Switzerland to obtain frozen assets linked to 1MDB commenced in November 2020.
"This was followed by meetings with the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland regarding 50 luxury cars involved in the 1MDB investigation in 2021.
“Following this latest development, MACC has sent a request for updated information from the German authorities,” he said in a brief statement.
Azam's remark follows German tabloid Bild reporting that the luxury cars were confiscated by Germany’s Criminal Investigation Department 7, which specialises in white-collar crimes, from a private storage facility in Munich last week as part of an ongoing investigation into the Malaysian sovereign investment fund.
According to the German newspaper, the seizure took place as part of a request for legal assistance from the Federal Prosecutor’s Office in Bern, Switzerland.
Presently, PetroSaudi chief executive Tarek Obaid and Patrick Mahony, a director at the Saudi oil exploration and production company, are on trial at Switzerland’s Federal Criminal Court in the southern city of Bellinzona.
Obaid is a Swiss-Saudi dual national, while Mahony is a Swiss-British dual national.
Both men stand accused of involvement in a vast embezzlement orchestrated by Malaysian fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho, better known as Jho Low, who has been linked to former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
Obaid and Mahony are reported to be charged with misappropriating at least US$1.8 billion, transferred by 1MDB in connection with a joint venture with the Saudi oil exploration and production company PetroSaudi, and laundered the money to enrich themselves and others between 2009 and 2015.
