Malaysia’s government says that it will look into a report that Jho Low, a fugitive wanted in connection with the multibillion dollar pilfering of the state investment fund 1MDB, is living in China.
Low – full name Low Taek Jho – has been charged in Malaysia and the United States for allegedly masterminding the theft of $4.5 billion from the state fund.
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim told reporters on Saturday that the country has not received information on the whereabouts of Low, but would investigate the situation along with Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.
“I have no information; we have yet to receive anything. Let me check. I’ve read [the media reports]. I need to verify with the home minister,” he said, according to the state news agency Bernama.
His comments came shortly after a July 18 livestream by journalists Bradley Hope and Tom Wright, in which they claimed that Low is currently residing in Green Hills, an ritzy neighborhood in Shanghai, presumably with the Chinese government’s knowledge. Citing evidence from multiple sources and newly obtained documents, they also alleged that Low is using a forged Australian passport bearing the name Constantinos Achilles Veis.
As reporters for the Wall Street Journal, Wright and Hope did much to uncover the scope of the 1MDB scandal, which they chronicled in their 2018 book “Billion Dollar Whale.” They have since launched a campaign to locate the 43-year-old’s whereabouts and “bring him home” to face the music.
The revelation has prompted calls from Malaysian politicians for the government to take more active steps to repatriate Low. Puad Zarkashi, a senior member of the ruling coalition’s United Malays National Organization, called on authorities to the Penang native home. If the report is true, “it is the responsibility of the police and MACC to bring him back without delay and bring him to justice,” Puad said in a Facebook post, referring to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.
Chua Wei Kiat, a member of the Selangor State Legislative Assembly, said that Anwar’s government should offer a 10 million ringgit ($2.36 million) bounty for credible information leading to Low’s return.
“If this RM10 million reward can lead to the return of a central figure who has long vanished from public view, it would be a worthy investment in justice,” he said in a statement. “It would also send a clear message to the world that Malaysia does not compromise when it comes to combating large-scale corruption.”
The 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) investment fund was established by Prime Minister Najib Razak shortly after he took office in 2009. U.S. prosecutors claim that more than $4.5 billion was stolen from 1MDB in the ensuing years by high-level officials of the fund and their associates, with the money concealed within a maze of shell companies and dummy corporations that is still in the process of being traced. The stolen funds bankrolled a series of extravagant purchases, including jewelry, art, a superyacht, lavish Hollywood parties, and luxury real estate, prosecutors claim. In their book, Wright and Hope describe the scandal as one of “the greatest financial heists in history.”
The scandal helped bring down the government of former Prime Minsiter Najib Razak, who is currently serving a 12-year prison sentence for his role in the 1MDB scandal. Timothy Leissner, a former Goldman Sachs banker, was also sentenced in May to two years in U.S. federal prison for his role in the scheme. Roger Ng, a fellow former Goldman Sachs banker, was sentenced in March 2023 to 10 years in federal prison.
Low, however, has vanished – concealing his tracks within mirrored halls of shell companies and fake identities, perhaps, as some have alleged, with the benefit of Chinese government protection. An Interpol Red Notice for Low’s arrest was issued in 2018. Since then, it has been frequently rumored that Low was hiding out in China. In 2020, Al Jazeera reported that Low was living in Macau under the protection of “a prominent Macau businessman, who was also a high-ranking Chinese official, living in his villa in the enclave’s most exclusive residential area, Penha Hill.” In 2023, the MACC said that it had been confirmed by “several individuals” that Low was living in Macau.
China has consistently denied harboring Low.