From Picasso to Matisse: DOJ Sends $30M in Looted Art Back to Malaysia

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced it will return more than $30 million in artwork to Malaysia.

These pieces, reportedly including works by Matisse and Picasso, were purchased by the former top lawyer of 1MDB, Malaysia’s now-defunct sovereign wealth fund, using funds misappropriated from the scandal.

Key Details:

• Who: The former chief legal officer of 1MDB  
• The former 1MDB lawyer responsible for purchasing the artwork is Jasmine Loo (also known as Loo Ai Swan).
• She served as the general counsel for the sovereign wealth fund.
• She allegedly acquired 12 high-value artworks, including pieces by Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Joan Miró, Alexander Calder, and William H. Bailey, using funds embezzled as part of the 1MDB scandal. [straitstimes.com], [scmp.com], [bloomberg.com]
• What: High-value art, estimated at $30+ million, recovered by U.S. authorities.
• Why: The artworks were bought with funds siphoned from 1MDB, which was at the centre of one of the world’s largest financial scandals involving billions in embezzled money.
• How: DOJ seized the assets through civil forfeiture actions as part of its Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative.
• Next Step: The art will be repatriated to Malaysia, marking another milestone in efforts to recover stolen assets.

Context:

• The 1MDB scandal implicated high-level officials and global financial institutions, including Goldman Sachs, and led to investigations across multiple jurisdictions (the U.S., Malaysia, Switzerland, and Singapore). Asset recovery has been ongoing for years, involving luxury properties, yachts, jewellery, and now fine art.

BREAKDOWN OF THE MAJOR RECOVERIES:

• The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has coordinated the recovery and return of a wide range of significant assets misappropriated from 1MDB.
• The total assets recovered in connection with the 1MDB scandal are over $1.4 billion repatriated to Malaysia so far, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. This figure comes from multiple civil forfeiture actions that originally targeted $1.7 billion in misappropriated assets, including:
• Cash and financial holdings
• Real estate in Beverly Hills, New York, and London
• A 300-foot superyacht
• Luxury jewellery
• High-value artwork (Picasso, Matisse, Monet, Basquiat, etc.)
• Business interests (film production, music rights, boutique hotels)
• The DOJ has described this as the largest recovery under its Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative to date.

HERE'S A BREAKDOWN OF THE SIGNIFICANT RECOVERIES:

Cash and Financial Assets

• Over US $1.7 billion seized through a series of civil forfeiture actions initiated in 2016, spanning 43 cases across California and D.C. [justice.gov], [thefederal…wswire.com]
• Approximately US $1.4 billion repatriated to Malaysia, including over US $452 million returned by August 2021 and an additional US $156 million repatriated in June 2024 [thefederal…wswire.com], [justice.gov]

Artwork & Collectibles

• 12 paintings by top artists (Picasso, Matisse, Miró, Calder, Bailey), valued at over US $30 million, seized from U.S. auction houses and now being returned [malaysia.n….yahoo.com], [straitstimes.com]
• Earlier recoveries included artwork by Van Gogh, Monet, Picasso, Basquiat, and Diane Arbus, as part of a collection linked to Jho Low and Jasmine Loo, valued at nearly US $85 million [globalsecurity.org]

Real Estate & Luxury Assets

• Luxury properties in major cities, including Beverly Hills, New York City, and London [thefederal…wswire.com]
• A 300-foot superyacht, tied to funds diverted from 1MDB [thefederal…wswire.com]

Media & Business Investments

• Equity and business interests in ventures such as a boutique Beverly Hills hotel, a film production company (notably, “The Wolf of Wall Street”), and EMI music company shares [thefederal…wswire.com]

Jewellery & Other Assets

• Diamond jewellery connected to Jho Low [globalsecurity.org]

Overall Impact

• These efforts represent the most significant recovery to date under the DOJ’s Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative [justice.gov], [thefederal…wswire.com]
• Asset recovery continues, with numerous jurisdictions (U.S., Switzerland, Singapore, Luxembourg, and Malaysia) coordinating efforts [justice.gov], [thefederal…wswire.com]

These recoveries illustrate the global scale and multi-jurisdictional coordination involved in dismantling the 1MDB scheme from corporate assets and real estate to high-value collectables and luxury goods.