Asset recovery as a public accountability mechanism: evidence from Malaysia’s 1MDB case

Asset recovery is a key element in the fight against corruption and money laundering, but its potential as a tool for public accountability is still underutilised. This study explored Malaysia's domestic asset recovery mechanisms, specifically in the context of the 1MDB case, and how the recovery processes helped to ensure accountability for misappropriated public linked assets. This study used a qualitative case study design whereby data was collected using semi-structured interviews with practitioners supplemented by document reviews. The findings revealed that asset recovery is not just a legal process, but also an accountability process that involved financial tracing, evidence building, institutional coordination, timely restraint action and eventual asset recovery. The thematic analysis organised findings around five qualitative conceptual variables based on the Institutional Theory, consisting of clarity of statutory authority, institutional capacity, institutional practice and culture, inter-agency coordination mechanisms and operational asset recovery effectiveness. The results indicated that Malaysia had a legal framework for asset recovery in the form of AMLATFPUAA 2001, MACC Act 2009 and MACMA 2002. However, the effectiveness of this framework relied on the speed of institutional response, quality of documentation, information sharing, inter-agency coordination and authorities' capacity to prevent asset dissipation. This study contributes by placing asset recovery in the context of a public accountability mechanism to recover public resources and improve state financial governance.