The buyer for the Houston-based energy firm was a joint venture between Compañía Española de Petróleos SAU (Cespa) – a Spanish energy unit owned by Abu Dhabi sovereign-wealth fund International Petroleum Investment Co (IPIC) – and a shell company allegedly controlled by 1MDB mastermind Low, better known as Jho Low.
SINGAPORE (June 13): Malaysian businessman Low Taek Jho is alleged to have pocketed US$300 million ($415 million) in less than a week after funds illegally siphoned from 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) were used to finance the US$2.2 billion purchase of a US energy company.
According to a report by Wall Street Journal, the US Justice Department provided detailed allegations in an asset seizure lawsuit that, between 2013 and 2014, funds from the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund were illegally diverted via a series of bank accounts and shell companies to partly finance the purchase of Coastal Energy.
