Yacht returned to Port Klang

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said on Aug 6 that Indonesia has handed over the 'Equanimity' allegedly bought with money stolen from the multibillion-dollar looting of a state investment fund. Mahathir thanked Indonesia’s government and President Joko Widodo for returning the $250 million yacht, which was seized by Indonesia off Bali in February in cooperation with the U.S. FBI. The yacht has set sail from Batam and berthed in Port Klang on Aug 7. The Justice Department, one of several foreign agencies investigating the alleged looting of the 1MDB fund by associates of former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, had listed the yacht among the assets it could seize and sell to recover stolen funds. Malaysian and international authorities want to question Malaysian financier Jho Low, who the Justice Department alleges was a key figure in the theft and international laundering of $4.5 billion from 1MDB. U.S. investigators said Low bought the yacht with proceeds diverted from 1MDB. Low, who has so far evaded investigators, issued a statement through his U.S. attorney on Aug 6 protesting the handover of the yacht as an “illegal act” for ignoring court proceedings in the United States. The yacht’s registered owner, Equanimity Cayman Ltd., had filed a claim on the vessel and filed further proceedings following the handover to Malaysia.