KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Najib Razak's former special officer has returned US$972,251.25 (RM4,551,399.45) of 1Malaysia Development Bhd funds to the government.
Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (MACC), in a statement, said the funds were returned by Datuk Amhari Efendi Nazaruddin, via wire transfer from BSI Bank Switzerland on Sept 29 last year.
The graft busters also revealed that another of Najib's aide - Mohammad Kamal Yan Yahaya, was also ordered by the Kuala Lumpur High Court to forfeit three condominium units worth RM7.05 million.
Kamal - who was the foreign affairs adviser to Najib, was ordered to do so by the court on Nov 8 last year.
Kamal, the MACC said, had received 1MDB funds through three projects — Magnolia, Maximus and Catalyze—into the company account of Spring Elite International Ltd at BSI Bank, Singapore, in which he has an interest.
The MACC also recovered RM556,275.64 from 1MDB officer Nurzahid Taib, who had received the funds for two Maximus and Catalyze projects, on Aug 30 last year.
The monies, the MACC said, were deposited into the company account of Turquoise Coast Offshore Inc in which she has an interest.
All these assets have become part of RM29.03 billion in funds and assets linked to 1MDB which had been returned to the government from 2019 to Feb 5 this year.
Of the total funds and assets recovered in the country and abroad, the MACC said almost RM24 million in monies and funds were seized and recovered through confiscation processes, including court proceedings as well as voluntary surrenders involving five people between last year and Feb 5.
"The success in recovering the monies is the result of tracking and recovering of funds belonging to 1MDB by the MACC's Anti-Money Laundering Division from last year to Feb 5."
The bulk of funds and assets linked to 1MDB recovered during the period was made via an order issued by the Kuala Lumpur High Court on Monday, the graft busters said.
The court, the MACC said, had ordered for the seizure of all assets in the country and Singapore worth some RM11 million belonging to Jerome Lee Tak Loong and his wife, Koay Ying Ying, who were accomplices of fugitive businessman Low Taek Low, better known as Jho Low.
"The application to forfeit the assets was made under Section 56 and Section 64 of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001."
The MACC said three recoveries were made following the outcome of the trial of Goldman Sachs banker Roger Ng at the Brooklyn Federal Court in the United States in February 2022.
Najib is facing four charges of using his position to obtain bribes totaling RM2.3 billion from 1MDB funds and 21 charges of money laundering involving the same amount.