Abu Dhabi’s state-owned Mubadala Investment Co. and other investors can now buy the Park Lane Hotel.
Fugitive Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho (Jho Low) had purchased the hotel with money allegedly stolen from the state-owned 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MBD) fund. The U.S. Justice Department has been trying to seize the property, and on Friday, intermediary companies that held Low’s interest rescinded their claims on the hotel, Bloomberg reported.
The release of those claims clears the way for the hotel’s sale to Mubadala, which has a 30 percent stake in the property. Low, along with the Witkoff Group, bought the hotel in 2013 for $654 million. Low later brought in Mubadala
Earlier this month Brooklyn prosecutors charged Low — who is believed to be somewhere in China —with conspiring with a Goldman Sachs banker to launder billions of dollars embezzled from 1MDB. [Bloomberg] — Kathryn Brenzel