Was Malaysia’s Jho Low in Shanghai Disneyland? Podcast talks 1MDB fugitive’s location, his possible bid to moor boats in Hong Kong

The authors of Billion Dollar Whale share insights into Low’s possible hiding places in a series of YouTube podcasts

A recent episode reveals Low also allegedly tried to join yacht clubs in Hong Kong, and was sighted at luxury hotels in Shanghai and Bangkok

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Protesters hold portraits of Jho Low, a central figure in the 1MDB scandal, illustrated as a pirate during a protest in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 2018. Photo: AP

Published: 6:54pm, 7 Sep 2022Updated: 7:36pm, 7 Sep 2022

The whereabouts of Malaysian fugitive Jho Low, a central figure in the 1MDB scandal, may become clearer after a photo of him in Shanghai Disneyland turned up during a crowdsourcing effort launched by two former reporters for The Wall Street Journal.

Tom Wright and Bradley Hope, who were among the first to report on the case, in 2018 published the book Billion Dollar Whale, which traced the involvement of Low – the eponymous “whale” – in looting billions of dollars from the 1MDB state fund.

Low went into hiding after his ally, then Prime Minister Najib Razak, lost power in the 2018 election to a coalition that pledged to bring down all perpetrators of the racket.

Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has been sentenced to 12 years in jail. Photo: AP

He has since been slapped with an Interpol Red Notice, making travel almost impossible, while Najib was on August 23 sentenced to 12 years in jail in the first of many criminal cases linked to 1MDB.

Wright and Hope, who now run the investigative journalism outfit Project Brazen, have shared their insights into where Low is hiding in a series of YouTube podcasts.

In the photo released during the YouTube episode on August 31, Low, in a T-shirt and cap, is seen smiling as he looks at his phone while sitting at a table allegedly in Shanghai Disneyland on Christmas Eve 2019 with two unknown individuals.

Wright and Hope said his trail ran cold after this sighting, which prompted them to launch the crowdsourcing move for fresh information on his whereabouts.

“Obviously, I’m not Malaysian. And I never thought I’d get involved in another nation’s business,” Wright said in a Twitter message on August 31, Malaysia’s national day. “But if I were Malaysian, I’d really want Jho Low to face justice at home, not swan around Shanghai Disneyland.”