Bloomberg today said possible witnesses to the alleged looting of billions of dollars from 1Malaysia Development Bhd are too scared to talk to U.S. investigators – fearing for “the safety and security of both themselves and their families at serious risk,”.
As recently as Aug. 30, Malaysian media reported that the driver of former Malaysian Attorney General Abdul Gani Patail was shot and wounded as a possible warning to the former prosecutor not to cooperate with the U.S., the FBI said.
The news portal said that was because they fear retaliation, citing a source from the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Some people in “certain foreign countries” already assisting the criminal probe are concerned for their safety, while others say it’s too dangerous to cooperate, according to an FBI request to keep the names of its informants secret from the alleged masterminds of the 1MDB conspiracy, wrote Bloomberg.
Bloomberg said the Justice Department last month asked a judge to put on hold a dozen-plus civil forfeiture lawsuits seeking more than $1 billion in assets in the U.S., the U.K. and Switzerland while it’s conducting a criminal investigation into funds siphoned from Malaysia’s state development fund.
Abdul Gani opened the initial 1MDB investigation, according to the FBI’s filing. He was replaced as attorney general in 2015.