Authorities in the States are reportedly ready to take action against the notorious Jho Low.

US authorities are set to file criminal charges against a Malaysian financier who is allegedly tied to an international money laundering scandal stemming from a state-owned fund in his native country, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The scandal involves Malaysia's state-owned investment fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad,or 1MDB, and the man in focus is Low Taek Jho, a flamboyant financier with Hollywood ties who the US Department of Justice claim is a kingpin in an alleged plot to siphon billions of dollars from the fund. 

The US' prosecution plans, which could change or be dropped as the investigation moves forward, involve filing criminal charges of wire fraud and money laundering against Low and potentially some of his associates, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing people familiar with the probe. The timing of such actions is currently unknown, however. 

To obtain an indictment, prosecutors would present evidence to a grand jury, which would need to agree the government had probable cause to believe a law had been broken.

Civil suits in the US are also seeking to seize more than $1 billion of assets belonging the the Low family, including van Gogh and Monet paintings and luxury real estate in New York and Los Angeles, allegedly purchased using money stolen from 1MDB.

The DoJ wants to add recently-discovered assets to its list, including a $165 million yacht Low controls, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Last month, a US federal judge approved a plan crafted by the DoJ and a New York developer to sell Manhattan's Park Lane Hotel, which is part-owned by Low. The sale is part of a plan to remove him from the ownership group.

A group of investors, which included Low, bought the hotel in 2013 for $654 million. Low reportedly provided the majority of the equity for the acquisition. 

The Low family assets include a $107 million interest in EMI Music Publishing; a $35 million Bombardier jet; and a $30 million penthouse at Time Warner Center in New York. 

But the Low family is moving to keep its assets out of the reach of the authorities trying to snatch them.

A wrench was thrown into the works when a New Zealand court in January ruled that the Low family could change trustees holding its assets. The decision could see the family sidestep potential seizure attempts. 

1MDB is currently the subject of money laundering investigations in at least six countries including the US, Singapore, Switzerland and, most recently, Australia. 

The scandal unfolded when the fund, which had run up a multibillion-dollar debt to finance development but had little to show for it, began struggling to repay. Later, billions of dollars were found to be missing. The fund's debt load is estimated at $4.8 billion.

In recent months, multiple indictments, fines and jail sentences have been handed down to nefarious former bankers over their affiliations with the fund. 

In Singapore, authorities are particularly hot on the heels of those accused of looting money from the scandal-hit 1MDB amid a global game of investments hide-and-seek. 

Last week, the city-state's financial watchdog, the Monetary Authority of Singapore, slapped a former Goldman Sachs director who had dealings with 1MDB with a prohibition order that banned him from the industry for 10 years. The MAS has also kicked out BSI and Falcon Private Bank from the jurisdiction.