A line drawing by Pablo Picasso titled "Trois femmes nues et buste d'homme" depicts three nude women and the bust of a man. The figures are rendered in Picasso's distinctive style, characterized by exaggerated and abstracted facial features and forms. The composition is filled with intricate cross-hatching and shading, creating depth and texture. The scene is intimate and expressive, showcasing Picasso's skill in capturing human emotion and form through minimalistic yet dynamic lines.
Pablo Picasso. Trois femmes nues et buste d’homme (1969). Photo courtesy of Christie's

Federal authorities have recovered a $1.3 million drawing by Pablo Picasso that was allegedly bought with money embezzled from Malaysia’s sovereign investment development fund, known as 1MDB, amid the sweeping corruption and bribery probe.

Jasmine Loo Ai Swan, the former general counsel for the investment fund, agreed to hand over the Picasso drawing and a financial account in Switzerland traced to funds allegedly embezzled from 1MDB, the U.S. Justice Department announced in a news release. Those assets are collectively valued at an estimated $1.8 million, officials said.

The drawing, Trois femmes nues et buste d’homme (1969), was acquired by Loo—the former right hand woman of Malaysian businessman Jho Low, who is believed to be the mastermind of the 1MDB ring—for $1.3 million at Christie’s New York in May 2014, in a sale that far surpassed its estimate of $700,000 to $900,000.

Additionally, the Justice Department obtained forfeiture orders for nearly $85 million worth of funds and assets purchased by Low, now an international fugitive. So far, the United States has helped return more than $1.4 billion in assets tied to the scheme in Malaysia.

Those forfeiture orders include artworks Low allegedly purchased by artists including Vincent Van Gogh, Claude Monet, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Diane Arbus. The specific works sought were not named.

Documents reviewed by Artnet News show that, throughout the 1MDB fallout, prosecutors have sought works including: a print by Andy Warhol titled Round Jackie as well as some of his Campbell’s soup can silkscreens; Van Gogh’s La Maison de Vincent à Arles; Monet’s Vétheuil au Soleil; and a self-portrait and Redman One by Basquiat, among others.

Earlier this summer, officials obtained a forfeiture agreement to recover artwork located in Switzerland by Warhol and Monet, which Low purchased for approximately $35 million in total. As previously reported by Artnet News’s Eileen Kinsella, all of the illicitly acquired artwork tied to the case could be worth $200 million collectively.

“From 2009 through 2015, more than $4.5 billion in funds belonging to 1MDB were allegedly misappropriated by high-level officials of 1MDB and their associates, including Low and Loo, through a criminal conspiracy involving international money laundering and bribery,” the Justice Department said in its statement.

Despite signing the agreement in May, Loo is not released from any criminal claims against her, the Justice Department noted. And a federal judge has ordered Low to forfeit three “flawless” diamonds he bought for his mother.

Low faces criminal charges in two separate district courts for the 1MDB embezzlement scheme and for conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by allegedly paying bribes to various Malaysian and Emirati officials, as well as for allegedly conspiring to make and conceal foreign contributions during 2012 presidential election.