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KUALA LUMPUR – Fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho has claimed that millions of dollars drawn from 1MDB, Malaysia’s indebted state fund, were simply “loans” to him.
He continued to blame former Prime Minister Najib Razak for the fund’s crash.
Low made the claims in a series of conversations with a representative of the Malaysian government, which were reported by Al Jazeera on Tuesday (November 17).
Commonly known as Jho Low, the fallen businessman allegedly made the comments in recorded telephone conversations between May and November 2018.
That was after Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad’s coalition won the 2018 elections in Malaysia, toppling Najib’s long-standing Barisan Nasional coalition.
Low’s revelations during the calls appeared to be an attempt to negotiate for his freedom. He has been a fugitive from the law in both Singapore and Malaysia since 2016.
In the recorded conversations, Low said he believed he had not committed a crime. He described the millions of 1MDB money that he had used to increase his own wealth and personal assets as “loans.”
“Ultimately these were all loans, directly or indirectly … I think the time has come, we want to help repatriate these assets … and move on with life without, you know, being prosecuted,” Low said during the calls.
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) had estimated that at least US $ 4.5 billion (S $ 6 billion) was looted from 1MDB, which was established as Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund, during Najib’s tenure as prime minister. . Low has two red Interpol notices and a United States arrest warrant against him.
However, he has been on the run for the past four years. The recordings are the first time he has made public comments about his role in the scandal.
Low claimed that the blame for the scandal lay on the feet of Najib, who, as finance minister, had the power to authorize the transfer of money belonging to 1MDB. He also claimed that he had spent more than $ 500 million to buy jewelry and luxury items for Najib’s wife, Rosmah Mansor, using money from 1MDB.
“I have no authority to make any decision … It is a fairly well known fact that … all approvals have to be approved by the finance minister,” he said on the recordings.
Low also poured cold water on Najib’s claim that some $ 700 million that ended up in Najib’s personal account was a “donation” from the late King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia.
“The reality is that it is true that King Abdullah agreed to make a donation to the prime minister, but that was a small part of most of it,” Low said.
Najib, who faces 42 charges of corruption and money laundering related to the 1MDB scandal, was convicted of seven of the charges by the Malaysian High Court in July. He is currently out on bail pending an appeal to the Court of Appeal.
At the time of the phone calls, Low was reportedly in China and skipped a meeting that was scheduled to take place with his Malaysian government contact in Macau.
His Malaysian passport has been canceled and his St Kitts and Nevis passport has also been deactivated. But Al Jazeera cited flight records showing Low’s travel footprint included moving from Bangkok to Dubai via India in November 2019 on a private flight, using another passport issued by the Caribbean nation of Grenada.
According to the report, Low has been living in Macau, an autonomous administrative region of China, since 2018.
Former Finance Minister Daim Zainuddin, who served as a key adviser to Dr. Mahathir’s administration, said in 2018 and 2019 that Low had tried to reach out to him to negotiate immunity from the government and also to offer assistance in project negotiations. East Coast Rail Link. .
Tun Daim told The Straits Times on Tuesday that he “never spoke to him (Low).”
Additional reporting by Leslie Lopez
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