A US federal judge has rejected a move by family members of Malaysian businessman Low Taek Jho to claim assets seized by the US government in its probe into the scandal-tainted 1MDB fund.

Justice Dale Fischer, a judge in Los Angeles Federal Court, ruled on Monday (today in Malaysia) against a motion by the family members to intervene and lay claim to real estate and other assets seized in a US government lawsuit, a court filing shows.

Fischer also ruled against their motion for additional time to submit claims. The family members did not have direct control over the assets and were seeking to remove the Swiss trustees which control the assets and who have not filed their own claims, the judge said.

The family members' objective was to replace the trustees "with people or entities who, for reasons undisclosed, movants believe will file claims. But movants have no standing to request an extension on behalf of companies they do not control," Justice Fischer said in a memo after the hearing.

The ruling marks the latest setback for the family members, which last week had a motion to delay the hearing denied, squashing plans to try courts in New Zealand and the Cayman Islands, seen as potentially more hospitable to their claims.

Low Taek Jho, commonly referred to as Jho Low, is among the people named in civil lawsuits filed in July by the US Department of Justice, which alleged that more than US$3.5 billion (RM15.45 billion at current rates) was misappropriated from the state investment fund 1Malaysia Development Bhd.

The lawsuits seek to seize US$1 billion in assets allegedly siphoned off from 1MDB and diverted into luxury real estate in New York, Beverly Hills and London, valuable paintings, and a private jet.

Singapore police have named Jho Low a "key person of interest" in a money laundering investigation linked to 1MDB, according to testimony last month in the trial of a former BSI SA banker charged with obstruction of justice.

Jho Low has not been available for comment through his Hong Kong private equity company and his whereabouts are unknown.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak established the fund in 2009 and chaired the 1MDB advisory board until recently.

Najib has denied any wrongdoing and said Malaysia will cooperate in the international investigations.

- Reuters