1MDB scandal: US to file fraud, other charges against Jho Low

KUALA LUMPUR — The United States authorities plan to file criminal charges against Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho, who is suspected of being at the centre of a major corruption scandal that has embroiled Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak, reported the Wall Street Journal (WSJ).

The US plans to file charges of wire fraud and money-laundering linked to troubled state investment firm 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) against Mr Low, who is also known as Jho Low. He is a family friend of Mr Najib.

“Any charges could increase pressure on Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, who set up 1MDB and was close to Mr Low,” said the WSJ report, published Tuesday.

Citing anonymous people familiar with the matter, the report said the planned charges against Mr Low will be separate from civil proceedings filed by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) last year to seize more than US$1 billion (S$1.4 billion) in assets believed to have been bought with funds siphoned from 1MDB.

Allegations that huge sums were misappropriated from 1MDB have triggered a scandal that has buffeted Mr Najib, who founded 1MDB in 2009.

The firm is also the subject of money-laundering investigations in at least six other countries, including Switzerland and Singapore. The Prime Minister has denied any wrongdoing and consolidated power by cracking down on dissenters, stacking his Cabinet with loyalists, and securing the backing of powerful division chiefs from his ruling United Malays National Organisation (Umno).

Whistleblowers say Mr Low helped establish 1MDB and made key financial decisions, even though he had no official positions in Malaysia. Mr Low has denied any wrongdoing.

The WSJ report also said a DOJ team has visited Singapore “to conduct interviews related to Mr Low and other aspects of the 1MDB matter”, but it did not state when the trip was made or who they interviewed.

Singapore, known for its tough stance against corruption, was the first country to hand down criminal convictions related to the 1MDB investigations.

The Republic’s courts have jailed four private bankers so far, including Singaporean Yeo Jiawei, who was sentenced in December to 30 months in prison. It was revealed during Yeo’s trial that he had worked closely with Mr Low, who has not been charged in Singapore.

The Republic’s authorities, however, have named Mr Low a “key person of interest”.

Mr Low has largely disappeared from public view since the DOJ filed a civil lawsuit last July seeking the forfeiture and recovery of more than US$1 billion in assets linked to what it described as an “international conspiracy to launder funds misappropriated” from 1MDB. He has deleted some email accounts, changed phones, and avoided the US, said WSJ, citing people familiar with his movements.

Instead, he has been living in China and Thailand, while his luxurious yacht Equanimity has been moored in Thai waters since October. AGENCIES