Elusive playboy financier Jho Low agrees to assist in Malaysia’s 1MDB probe
Some investigators say he is a central figure behind some of the schemes involving missing funds from the state investment firm
Elusive financier Low Taek Jho, wanted for questioning in a massive corruption probe focused on Malaysia’s former prime minister Najib Razak, has offered to assist investigators, his spokesman said on Thursday.
Empowered by a new government elected last month, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has relaunched a probe into why US$10.6 million from SRC International, a former unit of 1Malaysian Development Bhd, was transferred into Najib’s bank account.
The amount is tiny compared with the billions of dollars that went missing from 1MDB, but the transfers from SRC were made through Malaysian entities making them easier for investigators to trace.
Anti-graft agents have questioned both Najib and his wife Rosmah Mansor, in the wake of his shock defeat in an election on May 9.
Low, popularly known as Jho Low, was regarded as close to Najib and his family and is regarded as a central figure in the 1MDB affair, having allegedly advised on investments and negotiated deals although he never held any official role in the fund.
The whereabouts of the portly, 37-year-old ethnic Chinese Malaysian has been a mystery since the scandal first erupted three years ago, though he has released statements at various times denying any culpability.