Elliott Broidy, an American venture capitalist pleaded guilty to acting as an unregistered foreign agent and lobbying top U.S. government officials to influence the Department of Justice (DOJ) to drop its investigation into 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
Broidy was a major fundraiser for the Republican Party and President Donald Trump’s campaign.
1MDB is a strategic investment and development company wholly owned by the Government of Malaysia.
According to the DOJ, Broidy pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly to one count of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
He admitted having co-conspirators and they received millions of dollars from a foreign government and a foreign national. In exchange, they “agreed to secretly” seek to influence Pres. Trump, Attorney General William Barr, and other top officials in the Administration, and the DOJ to abandon the civil forfeiture proceedings and related charges regarding the embezzlement of billions of dollars from 1MDB.
Broidy admitted getting paid $9 million for his lobbying efforts
Broidy admitted confessed that the alleged architect of the 1MDB (Foreign national A) paid him $9 million. His role is to “lobby the Administration and DOJ on behalf of foreign national A and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) Minister A and to arrange for the removal and return of PRC National A – a dissident of the PRC living in the United States.”
