Van Gogh and Monet paintings seized in 1MDB corruption investigation

The artworks were seized following a request from the US, one of several countries looking into alleged massive fraud at the Malaysian state fund.

La Maison de Vincent a Arles, by Vincent Van Gogh. Photograph: Frank Baron for the Guardian

 Switzerland has seized a painting by Vincent Van Gogh and two others by Claude Monet as part of the global investigation into Malaysia’s scandal-tainted sovereign wealth fund, an official said Friday.

The works were seized following a request from the United States, one of several countries probing alleged massive fraud at the Malaysian state fund 1MDB, said Swiss justice ministry spokeswoman Ingrid Reyser.

“The operation is over and we confiscated the three paintings,” Reyser told AFP in an email.

She declined to comment on where the paintings had been kept or the individuals involved.

Earlier this week, the US justice department filed lawsuits seeking to reclaim more than $1bn in assets linked to stolen or laundered 1MDB funds.

Artworks by Monet and Van Gogh were among the assets listed in the lawsuit filed at a California federal court.

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 The step-daughter of Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has issued a rebuke of her family, claiming her Wolf of Wall Street producer brother was paying the price for acting the “dutiful son”.

She further charged that the US government had “copped out” by not naming public officials ­involved in the multi-billion-­dollar heist from state development fund 1MDB.

In a statement uploaded to Twitter and Facebook, Azrene Soraya Abdul Aziz also appealed to her estranged mother Rosmah Mansor, the second wife of Mr Najib, not to throw her US-based brother Riza Aziz under a bus “so that you and your husband can get off scot-free”.

Mr Aziz, a co-founder of Hollywood production company Red Granite, was one of several people named in a US Justice ­Department lawsuit this week that seeks the seizure of $1.3 billion in assets bought with money stolen from the 1MDB Malaysian State Development fund he oversaw.

Red Granite, producer of The Wolf of Wall Street, said it had no reason to believe the money was “illegitimate” and Mr Aziz had done nothing wrong.

A spokesman for the Prime Minister said he had seen the post but could not comment on private family matters.

“She has a right to say what she wants to say but I can say for sure that the mother and daughter have been estranged for many years. We are not responding to it at the moment,” he said.

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US rejects account of how millions got to Najib

A US Justice Department complaint filed in federal court this week directly contradicts repeated assertions by the Malaysian prime minister, Najib Razak, about the origins and purpose of hundreds of millions of dollars that ended up in his personal bank accounts.

While Mr Najib and other Malaysian officials have insisted that the money was a gift from an unidentified Saudi donor, the Justice Department said that it was stolen from a Malaysian government investment fund that Mr Najib oversaw. Mr Najib has said he never received any money from the fund.

The court filing, one of several complaints filed Wednesday in a federal money-laundering investigation, provides the first official public documentation of transactions that challenge Mr Najib’s version of events in a scandal that has battered his government for the past year.

The revelations could undermine his credibility and give new ammunition to a movement to force him from office. However, he maintains firm control over his governing party and has successfully stifled opposition with the firing of critics from party posts, the closing of online news outlets and the criminal prosecution of social media detractors and political opponents.

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U.S. prosecutors on Wednesday linked Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak to hundreds of millions of dollars they believe were stolen from the Malaysian state-owned investment fund 1MDB. The Justice Department filed a lawsuit to freeze more than $1 billion in assets from people connected to Mr. Najib, including his stepson Riza Aziz. The individuals named in the complaint allegedly used the money to buy real estate, artworks and other baubles of the jet set.

Mr. Najib denies all wrongdoing and spokesmen have dismissed critics as part of a conspiracy to overthrow an elected leader. Mr. Najib has previously said that $681 million that ended up in his personal accounts was a legal political donation from Saudi Arabia that was later mostly returned.

But Mr. Najib can’t escape responsibility if it is proved that national wealth held by 1MDB disappeared on his watch. He launched 1MDB in 2009, served as chairman of the advisory board, and oversaw it as Prime Minister and, concurrently, Finance Minister. The evidence of fraud connected to 1MDB from investigations in the U.S., Singapore, Switzerland and at least four other countries is damning. The U.S. Justice Department put the losses at $3.5 billion on Wednesday. The Swiss Attorney General’s office said earlier this year it suspects $4 billion was misappropriated.

Justice describes one of the people mentioned in the lawsuit​as “Malaysian Official 1,” who allegedly received hundreds of millions of dollars from 1MDB. Details about him match Mr. Najib, and a person with direct knowledge of the investigation confirmed to the Journal that it refers to the Malaysian Prime Minister.

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Although U.S. prosecutors say billions of dollars were stolen from a state investment fund that Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak founded and oversaw, his government was unmoved on Thursday by the allegations.

U.S. prosecutors said on Wednesday over $3.5 billion was diverted from the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) fund that Najib founded in 2009 shortly after coming to power. The U.S. civil lawsuits are seeking to seize $1 billion of the allegedly embezzled assets that were transferred into the United States using shell companies.

The lawsuit does not name Najib but refers to a "Malaysian Official 1" - described as a high-ranking government official - who received some of the misappropriated funds, including $681 million in March 2013. A source familiar with the investigation later confirmed that "Malaysian Official 1" is Najib.

Political risk consultants Eurasia said since Najib was not directly named in the lawsuits that "will afford him protection".


"Najib has become accustomed to weathering international investigations," Eurasia said in a note to clients.

"Najib supporters placed in key positions across government (including in the Attorney General's office and the anti-corruption commission) will continue to shield the prime minister from any probe by blocking access to information or evidence that could implicate him," the note said.

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