The outgoing Trump administration has today awarded the key members of the Department of Justice team who worked tirelessly on the 1MDB case the highest available honour for their successful prosecution of the case, namely the John Marshal award for their work in asset forfeiture.

It comes towards the conclusion of the marathon operation that began after Sarawak Report brought hard evidence of massive theft from the fund to the authorities back in early 2015.

The newly constituted Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Unit, which was a joint initiative between the two agencies set up by former AG Eric Holder, adopted the matter as a significant test case designed to identify and pursue this major threat both to direct victims of the crime, in this case the people of Malaysia, and indirectly affected nations such as the US and Britain where much of the stolen loot was laundered.

Tracing the cash that had been stolen from 1MDB and identifying assets into which that money had been channelled was a mammoth task that eventually took years and continues to be on-going.

The Department of Justice has in the process prosecuted several key actors and facilitators, most significantly the bank Goldman Sachs, which reached a punitive settlement late last month.

The process took years, but it has retrieved billions of dollars stolen from the people of Malaysia.

Malaysians owe these dedicated public servants a debt of gratitude and their honour is plainly well-deserved.