Comment on U.S. goes after more than $1B taken from Malaysian fund

WASHINGTON — The United States moved Wednesday to recover more than $1 billion that federal officials say was stolen from a Malaysian sovereign wealth fund and that was used for high-end real estate, fancy artwork and production of the Hollywood film, “The Wolf of Wall Street.” Justice Department civil forfeiture complaints seek the forfeiture of property including a Manhattan penthouse and a Beverly Hills mansion, a $35 million private jet and paintings by Vincent Van Gogh and Claude Monet. The complaint, filed in Los Angeles, alleges a complex money laundering scheme that the Justice Department says was intended to enrich top-level officials of a government-controlled Malaysian wealth fund. That fund, known informally as 1MDB, was created in 2009 by the Malaysian government with the goal of promoting economic development projects in the Asian nation.