1MDB scandal: Hong Kong, Shenzhen also harbouring fugitives, Malaysia police chief says

Former 1MDB officials Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil and Jasmine Loo are believed to be in the Chinese cities, said Malaysia’s inspector general of police

It follows last week’s claim that Jho Low, known as the scandal’s ‘mastermind’, is in Macau – a suggestion Beijing swiftly shot down

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Malaysian police believe the former CEO of a 1MDB unit, Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil, is hiding out in Hong Kong. Photo: Reuters

Published: 7:18pm, 5 Aug 2020Updated: 1:49pm, 10 Aug 2020

Corrected [1:49pm, 10 Aug, 2020]

[1:49pm, 10 Aug, 2020]
An earlier version of this story reported that Low Taek Jho had been charged in Malaysia and China over 1MDB. The story has been amended to reflect that he has in fact been charged in Malaysia and the United States.

Malaysia’s police chief on Wednesday urged authorities in China to help hunt down suspects linked to the global 1MDB corruption scandal, who he said were hiding out in Hong Kong and Shenzhen, as well as Macau.

Billions of dollars were stolen from sovereign wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad and bankrolled a global spending spree, with looted cash used to buy everything from pricey art to real estate.

Former Malaysian leader Najib Razak lost power in 2018 over his involvement in the fraud and was last week convicted in a 1MDB-linked trial, but several other suspects remain at large.

The most prominent is Low Taek Jho – also known as Jho Low – a bespectacled financier known for partying with Hollywood A-listers who has been accused of being the scandal’s mastermind.

Low Taek Jho, also known as Jho Low, is seen in this 2015 file photo. Photo: AP

Malaysian police said last week Low was believed to be hiding in the semi-autonomous Chinese city of Macau – but Beijing swiftly shot down the suggestion, insisting it does not harbour foreign criminals.

However, Malaysia’s Inspector-General of Police Abdul Hamid Bador said a woman was arrested this year who had been sending documents to Low in the gambling boomtown, and authorities had concluded he was there.