The US Department of Justice is currently seeking to recoup more than $1 billion in assets related to an alleged global money-laundering scheme involving 1MDB. According to US attorney general Loretta Lynch, billions of dollars were skimmed and misappropriated from the fund to support the lavish lifestyles of corrupt officials, including the purchase of luxury properties in the US and Europe, artworks by Monet and Van Gogh, and funding Hollywood film projects such as 2013’s The Wolf of Wall Street.

Law firms involved

Though no law firms have been accused of illegal activity, a civil asset forfeiture case filed in Los Angeles this week – the government’s largest single action brought under the DoJ Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative – alleges that the accounts of several major law firms have played host to laundered money from 1MDB. In 2009 and 2010, the government claims that around $368m was transferred to the interest account of Sherman & Sterling and later used for luxury purchases, including funding The Wolf of Wall Street. The firm represented individuals and organisations making the purchases. DLA Piper, Greenberg Traurig and Sullivan & Cromwell have also been named in the court papers.

Sources: Law.com; The Guardian