The global guessing game goes on over the whereabouts of international fugitive Jho Low, 40, wanted in Singapore and Malaysia among other countries over his role in siphoning off billions from Malaysia’s multi-billion-dollar 1MDB scandal.
The countries where he is wanted are all in the same boat, said Malaysia’s Home Affairs Minister, Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin. He said this on Tuesday (Nov 16) at the conclusion of his Budget 2022 speech.
“Singapore has filed charges against Jho Low in 2016 and obtained a Red Notice from Interpol that same year, and the US have also filed for charges against Jho Low in the New York Court in 2018 with an arrest warrant out that same year.”
Interpol has 194 member nations, but until today Malaysia, Singapore and the US, where Jho Low is wanted, have not heard from any member countries on his whereabouts.
As of now, we do not know where is Jho Low,” the minister added.
The fugitive financier has been rumoured to be in Dubai and Wuhan, China.
Could he be in Macau? That’s according to a report last November in Al-Jazeera which claimed that the elusive runaway lives “in a house owned by a senior member of the Chinese Communist Party” . China has denied this.
The Chinese High Commission in Malaysia “issued a statement denying that Low was enjoying the protection of Beijing”, the minister told Parliament. He reaffirmed on Tuesday that the ministry “via the police is committed to tracking down the whereabouts of Low Taek Jho or Jho Low to bring him back to face investigations.”
Low was identified as the central figure in the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal, wherein approximately S$6 billion was said to have been siphoned from IMDB, a sovereign wealth fund.
Low has been at large since 2018, but used to maintain his innocence through his lawyers and via statements on his website.
He is known to be a close to former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, currently on trial due to four charges of abusing his position to obtain gratification totalling millions in 1MDB funds as well as 21 counts of money laundering.
Former IMDB CEO Mohd Hazem Abd Rahman told the High Court in Kuala Lumpur on Monday that Najib had a “very, very close” relationship, and agreed with the prosecution that Najib had never said or done anything to dissociate himself from Low during a meeting at Najib’s house in November 2013 when the three met.
“Jho Low is basically the man of the prime minister (Najib)”, said the former CEO>
Early last year, the Singapore Police Force confirmed that Low is still a wanted man in Singapore, saying, “The charges, warrants of arrest and INTERPOL Red Notices against Low and Tan remain in force. Both remain key persons of interest to Singapore in ongoing 1MDB-related investigations.”
In August, the former CEO of 1MDB said that the real power who directed the company.
The former IMDB CEO claimed to have been “led by the nose” by Low, and added that Low’s instructions were tantamount to those coming from then-Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
This went on despite Low not having any official designation within 1MDB, he said, adding that the businessman would be present at meetings with the former Prime Minister at his home.
The Malay Mail reported he also said that Terence Geh and Jasmine Loo, once senior management officials at IMDB, while supposedly under his supervision, were ultimately loyal to Jho Low. The pair fled Malaysia before the May 2018 election that unseated Najib Razak.
Geh and Loo acted upon instructions from Low, he said, which he did not correct because to him, the businessman and the Prime Minister were equated together.
In 2019, the Malaysian police chief said he would not be able to fulfill his promise to bring in the fugitive financier by Christmas of that year because of “dishonest” foreign authorities.
Openly expressing his disappointment, Inspector-General of Police Abdul Hamid Bador said: “In bilateral ties with police in other countries, we expect honesty in terms of co-operation. There must be a spirit of reciprocity. But this is where I’m disappointed. I expected honest co-operation. But there has been no honesty.”
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