How is the mega yacht Equanimity that was confiscated by a corruption plot that sells for $ 126 million

Malaysian government announced Wednesday the sale of $ 126 million yacht Equanimity, confiscated the funds required by the judge Jho Low, accused of being one of the brains of the embezzlement of the Malaysian investment arm 1MDB.

The vessel, 91.5 meters long and flagged on the Cayman Islands flag, is one of the funds diverted by the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) state fund, according to the two processes underway in Malaysia and the United States.

The Malaysian authorities, who auctioned the boat last year with a starting price of $ 250 million (22 million euros), agreed to the sale with the Malaysian company Genting, which operates several leisure complexes, announced today Attorney General's Office.

The yacht, which is anchored in a marina port of Langkawi Island, will be delivered to its new owners at the end of April, when payment will also be made.

The official statement indicates that Genting's offer was "the best" among those received, many of which were less than $ 100 million (89 million euros).

The ship was confiscated on the Indonesian island of Bali in February 2017, at the request of the United States Department of Justice, and has a swimming pool, a helipad a gym, a garage, a movie theater, among others.

The announcement of the sale coincides with the start of the first corruption trial in the Kuala Lumpur High Court against former prime minister Najib Razak, the main accused of the plot.

Najib, on whom 42 corruption charges, and his badociates hijacked 4.5 billion dollars (4,010 million euros) of the 1MDB, a scandal that caused its fall in elections last May.

According to a survey conducted in 2015, the 65-year-old politician who led the country from 2009 to 2018, appropriated about 2,600 million ringgits (at the current exchange rate of $ 637 million or 567 million dollars). millions of euros). journalistic

In addition to Kuala Lumpur, half a dozen countries – including the United States, Switzerland and Singapore – continue to investigate misappropriation of funds from the Malaysian state fund.

The United States Department of Justice has estimated the deflected amount of 1MDB to $ 4,500 million (4,010 million euros), of which about 1,000 million dollars (891,000 euros) would have been laundered in their country with the purchase of real estate, yachts, jewelry and works of art, among other goods.

Low, considered the brain of the internationalization of the plot, remains untraceable.

1MDB was established in 2009 by Najib and chaired by the latter until 2016 to attract foreign investment and create a financial district in Kuala Lumpur, but ended up accumulating losses of 42 billion ringgit (about 10,300 million dollars or more than 9 170 million euros).