Rapper and producer Swizz Beatz is dealing with fresh legal issues after a U.S. federal court rejected his motion to dismiss a $7.3 million lawsuit connected to the international 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) corruption scandal. The British Virgin Islands' court-appointed liquidators filed the complaint, which claims that Beatz and his business deliberately accepted money linked to fugitive financier Jho Low, the purported mastermind behind the multibillion-dollar fraud. The lawsuit alleges that between 2012 and 2014, Swizz Beatz and two of his businesses, Swizz Beatz Productions Inc. and Monza Studios Inc., received a total of $7.3 million through shell companies connected to Jho Low, such as Affinity Equity International Partners Limited and Alsen Chance Holdings Limited, according to documents examined by ARTnews, Hot 97, and Comsure Group. Transfers of $7.3 million were made between 2012 and 2014; among the alleged transfers were $1.5 million in September 2012 and another $1 million and $800,000 in October 2012. The liquidators claim that these transactions were "fraudulent conveyances," claiming that the money came from money taken from Malaysia's sovereign wealth fund, which was intended to fund national development initiatives. Rather, the prosecution claims that billions were diverted towards celebrity contacts, art, and luxury real estate.Swizz Beatz, who first met Jho Low in the early 2010s, has denied any misconduct, maintaining that the money came from service fees and legal investments rather than embezzled funds.Swizz Beatz's defense: "No Fraudulent Intent"According to the legal documents obtained by HotNewHipHop and Hot 97, Swizz Beatz's lawyers claimed that “all payments were received without actual fraudulent intent and for reasonably equivalent value.”They denied allegations that Beatz intentionally profited from illegal activities, adding that the producer's acquaintance with Low never developed into a personal friendship:"He was introduced to Low but deny Low and Dean were friends."Beatz's motion to dismiss read:“The [plaintiffs] present this action under the noble premise of recovering assets for the benefit of creditors. In reality, the lawsuit is being used as a bad faith vehicle to pressure the collection of legally, non-recoverable assets by embarrassing, in the [plaintiffs’] own words, a ‘notable record producer.’”Swizz Beatz's motion to have the case dismissed was denied on 26 September 2025, when U.S. District Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald decided that the lawsuit could proceed. Judge Buchwald determined that the plaintiffs, joint liquidators Toni Shukla and Angela Barkhouse, had standing to file their claims and that they provided "specific facts supporting an inference of actual fraudulent intent," according to the court order.Judge Buchwald also decided that the court had jurisdiction to hear the case and that the allegations were not time-barred. This allowed the matter to proceed to the discovery phase, when more financial evidence is reviewed. Casey D. Laffey, who is the attorney representing the plaintiff, stated:“We are pleased with this well-reasoned and thorough decision. The funds should be returned so that our clients can rightfully discharge their obligation to return the funds to Malaysia’s sovereign wealth funds, and ultimately the people of Malaysia. We look forward to moving this case forward to discovery and on the merits.”The Malaysian businessman, Jho Low, who is now a fugitive, has been involved in scandals with bankers, politicians, and celebrities, such as Miranda Kerr and Leonardo DiCaprio, who both returned presents purportedly bought with embezzled money. Beatz also had to return Andy Warhol’s painting, Round Jackie (1964). It was returned to the US Department of Justice as part of the asset recovery operation.Stay tuned to Soap Central for more information.