A customer counts her ringgit notes outside a money changer at the central business district in Singapore

The US wants to recover $1.7 billion stolen from a Malaysian government fund

$1.7 billion

The US Justice Department wants to recover $1.7 billion worth of assets reportedly bought with money stolen from a Malaysian government fund.

Published   |  Photo by Reuters/Edgar Su
A customer counts her ringgit notes outside a money changer at the central business district in Singapore
$1.7 billion

Set up in 2009, the 1MDB fund was created to foster economic development in Malaysia. Instead, fund associates stole some $4.5 billion from the pool of money.

A customer counts her ringgit notes outside a money changer at the central business district in Singapore
$1.7 billion

The US has accused Malaysian financier Jho Low of trying to launder some $400 million of that money in the US.

A customer counts her ringgit notes outside a money changer at the central business district in Singapore
$1.7 billion

Low allegedly used some of the cash to fund The Wolf of Wall Street, Dumb and Dumber To, and Daddy’s Home.

FILE - This file film image released by Paramount Pictures shows Leonardo DiCaprio as Jordan Belfort in a scene from "The Wolf of Wall Street." Moviegoers in Dubai say they were disappointed by Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio’s latest film, “The Wolf of Wall Street," but not because the film had gone “too far” in its excesses, but because it hadn’t gone far enough.(AP Photo/Paramount Pictures, Mary Cybulski, File)

AP Photo/Paramount Pictures, Mary Cybulski

A customer counts her ringgit notes outside a money changer at the central business district in Singapore
$1.7 billion

Low also reportedly bought expensive gifts for Leonardo DiCaprio, including a Picasso painting and an Oscar that once belonged to Marlon Brando.

A customer counts her ringgit notes outside a money changer at the central business district in Singapore
$1.7 billion

Besides the US, the 1MDB fund is being investigated for money laundering in five other countries.

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