Indonesian investigators and their US counterparts spent six hours on board the luxury yacht Equanimity yesterday, before seizing it.

According to Detik.com, Indonesian police personnel and most likely four US Federal Bureau of Investigation personnel boarded the ship about 1.30pm and only left after dark.

The report said that investigators were seen carrying about a dozen black briefcases and bags while leaving, the contents of which were unknown.

At the time of writing, Indonesian officials said that they have detained 34 individuals but said the owner of the vessel was not on board.

Indonesian officials also claimed that the seizure of Equanimity was a joint action at the request of their US counterparts.

The Cayman Islands-registered vessel was reportedly custom-built for Malaysian businessman Low Taek Jho @ Jho Low in 2014, to the tune of US$250 million (approximately RM1 billion).

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) is seeking to seize the vessel as part of its anti-kleptocracy asset recovery exercise.

The DOJ claimed that Equanimity was bought with laundered money that ultimately was misappropriated from 1MDB.

Court filings by the DOJ indicate that the laundered funds were also used to buy jewellery, pay gambling bills and art pieces, among others.

1MDB, a sovereign wealth fund established by the Najib administration in 2009, is the subject of investigations in several countries.

However, no charges have been laid in Malaysia as yet with regard to 1MDB.

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