Businessperson Low Taek Jho, who is at the centre of the 1MDB scandal, is seeking a settlement with the US Department of Justice, according to whistleblower portal Sarawak Report.

The report said Low's new legal team, headed by "well-connected" former federal prosecutor and New Jersey governor Chris Christie, had obtained a high-level meeting with DOJ officials.

It said the attempt to seek for a settlement was an acknowledgment by Low that he was unlikely to persuade the US courts to return around US$1.2 billion in assets which authorities have seized on grounds that they were allegedly acquired using funds stolen from 1MDB.

"However, by cutting a deal, the billionaire, who is facing criminal charges in Malaysia, Singapore, Switzerland and elsewhere, including the United States, will be hoping to retain some of the value of the assets," said the report.

The report said this came amid concerns that the legal team itself was being paid by Low using funds allegedly stolen from 1MDB.

It said that the US' willingness to discuss a settlement was so that it could focus on other aspects of the 1MDB scandal, such as financial giant Goldman Sachs role in arranging multi-billion ringgit bonds for 1MDB which were purportedly then misappropriated.

"The bank has earned the anger and ill-feeling of countless Americans as a result of its pivotal role in causing the crash of 2008 and yet none of its bankers have been brought to book so far.

"The apparent negligence and huge sums earned through 1MDB have provided US investigators their most compelling evidence yet against what many believe to be rogue behaviour by the major bank," it said.

However, the report said a settlement will not sit well with Malaysian authorities.

It added that the US had recently also refused to grant Malaysia a guarantee that all seized assets suspected of having been acquired from stolen 1MDB funds would be returned in entirety.

“It doesn’t mean that the US will not return the money to Malaysia, but it does mean the US is insisting on keeping control over the process and that might include settling the case for less than the entire amount," the source was quoted as saying.

The DOJ had previously also agreed to a settlement with film production company Red Granite Pictures, which funded its films allegedly using stolen 1MDB funds.

The company, co-founded by former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak's stepson Riza Shahriz Abdul Aziz, reached a settlement amounting to around US$60 million.

The DOJ had claimed that US$64 million in allegedly misappropriated 1MDB funds had been wired to Red Granite, and used to finance the production of films, including Martin Scorsese’s 2013 film "The Wolf of Wall Street".

However, Red Granite did not admit any liability or wrongdoing under that settlement.