The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) has purchased the Park Lane Hotel, New York, which was formerly caught up in the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal, reported Bloomberg.

According to city property records, the hotel was acquired by Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund for $623m.

The 26-storey property is located on Central Park South, Manhattan.

Financier Jho Low, also known as Low Taek Jho, was a member of the group that owned the hotel.

In 2022, Low was convicted in the US of corruption charges related to embezzling billions of dollars from the Malaysian investment fund.

The US Justice Department had at first wanted to confiscate the hotel as part of its probe against Low.

But the department later reached a deal with the owners, led by developer Steven Witkoff, for the divestment of the property instead. It holds Low's portion of the proceeds in escrow.

The building's status was in limbo for almost six years due to the owners' unsuccessful $1bn auction attempt in 2017.

According to a Bloomberg report, real estate and management company Witkoff Group and the Qatar Investment Authority have not responded to requests for comment regarding the sale, which was first reported by PinusCo.

In 2019, Mubadala Investment Co of Abu Dhabi purchased a stake in the hotel for $140m.

This transaction was facilitated by Low's decision to relinquish his ownership rights to the property in a US forfeiture lawsuit.

The Justice Department confiscated his ownership share based on allegations that Low used the money stolen from 1MDB to obtain it.