A New York federal judge has refused to dismiss a $7.3 million lawsuit against hip-hop producer Swizz Beatz, ruling that liquidators for two alleged shell companies linked to the 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal had plausibly alleged fraudulent transfers and related claims.
Judge Flags “Badges of Fraud”
U.S. District Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald issued a 47-page opinion Friday, concluding that the allegations demonstrated classic “badges of fraud.” Among them: the “unusually close” bond between Swizz Beatz, whose real name is Kasseem Dean, and fugitive Malaysian financier Jho Low.
The judge noted Low once gifted Dean an Andy Warhol print worth $1 million and pointed to evidence of “hasty transfers” funneled through hollow entities with no staff, board, or even office space.
The Alleged Transfers
Liquidators Angela Barkhouse and Toni Shukla claim Dean and his companies — Swizz Beatz Productions Inc. and Monza Studios Inc. — received about $7.3 million from Low between 2012 and 2014. The suit contends those funds were fraudulently diverted from 1MDB through entities Affinity Equity International Partners Limited and Alsen Chance Holdings Limited.
Prosecutors in Malaysia and New York separately accuse Low and two ex-Goldman Sachs bankers of laundering billions from 1MDB, with Low allegedly pocketing $1.42 billion personally.
