Recovered 1MDB Paintings Go on View in Malaysia for the First Time
Four paintings tied to the 1MDB scandal have been displayed publicly in Malaysia for the first time, turning a corruption case into a visible record of restitution. The works — by Joan Miró, Maurice Utrillo, Balthus, and Pablo Picasso — were unveiled Wednesday at the headquarters of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission in Putrajaya, after being repatriated from New York and shipped back to Malaysia on April 14.
The group is modest in market terms. Together, the paintings are estimated at about $198,125, a figure dwarfed by the billions allegedly siphoned from 1Malaysia Development Berhad, the state investment fund at the center of the scandal. Yet Malaysian officials cast the display as something larger than an art-handling exercise. MACC chief commissioner Azam Baki called the theft “a betrayal of the people’s money” and said that “every cent belonging to the people must be returned.”
The four works are linked to Jasmine Loo Ai Swan, a former 1MDB lawyer and associate of fugitive financier Jho Low. US authorities have said more than $4.5 billion was diverted from the fund between 2009 and 2014, with proceeds routed into luxury real estate, jewelry, a superyacht, Hollywood financing, and trophy art. The scandal’s art-market trail has been unusually long, with prosecutors and investigators tracing purchases through major auction houses and private intermediaries.
Malaysia is still pursuing eight other artworks connected to the case, including works by Henri Matisse, Alexander Calder, Salvador Dalí, and another Picasso, according to the South China Morning Post. Authorities are also seeking proceeds from the sale of Monet’s “Vétheuil au Soleil,” which sold in Switzerland for around €25.2 million and is now under seizure proceedings in the United States.
The recovered paintings are expected to be handed over to Malaysia’s National Art Gallery. Officials have said they may eventually be shown to the public, and possibly sold later, keeping the question of what restitution should look like very much alive.
