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

Malaysia 1MDB scandal

Hadi Azmi

Published: 6:54pm, 7 Sep 2022

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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.”

Malaysia rejects Jho Low’s US$337 million offer to settle 1MDB case: report

Low appears to have been using the name of his wife Jesselynn Chuan Teik Ying, as well as those of other relatives, to bypass banking restrictions imposed on him, allowing him to continue making transactions around the world.

In the latest YouTube episode on Wednesday, Wright and Hope revealed that insiders from the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club (RHKYC) leaked documents showing Chuan had tried to register to become a member at the exclusive club a few years ago, with the form showing a redacted home address somewhere in the affluent Mid-Levels residential area on Hong Kong Island and Chuan having a bank account at ICBC in Hong Kong.

While Low’s US$250 million superyacht Equanimity was seized by US authorities in 2018 before being repossessed and auctioned off by the Malaysian government, Wright and Hope said Low could still be in possession of other yachts and looking for places to moor them in Hong Kong.

Low’s US$250 million superyacht Equanimity was seized by US authorities in 2018 before being repossessed and auctioned off by the Malaysian government. Photo: AFP

“They were looking to join the yacht club so that they can have a berth in Hong Kong where they could moor another yacht replacing the Equanimity,” Wright said in Wednesday’s episode, which also revealed that prior to RHKYC, Low tried to register as a member at the Aberdeen Marina Club under his own name before being rejected.

Low has also been sighted at the luxurious Peninsula Hotel in Shanghai, on the Bund overlooking the Huangpu River, as well as at several luxury hotels in Bangkok, where he has relatives.

These alleged sightings of the fugitive were well received by Malaysians online. Many shared Wright and Hope’s tweets, with some translating the content into Malay and other dialects to help spread the message beyond English-speaking users.

Malaysian officials, however, did not take the exposé well, questioning why the pair did not share the information with them. “If he knows his whereabouts, why didn’t he report it to us?” asked Home Minister Hamzah Zainudin as reported by local daily Malay Mail.

Jho Low has been sighted at the luxurious Peninsula Hotel in Shanghai, on the Bund overlooking the Huangpu River, as well as at several luxury hotels in Bangkok, where he has relatives. Photo: AP

In 2018, then prime minister Mahathir Mohamad said while Malaysia knew where Low was, the government could not bring him back as it “does not have extradition rights in the country where he is at”, without naming the country.

Later in 2020, Malaysia’s police chief accused Chinese authorities of appearing “insincere” in their efforts to cooperate, despite requests to extradite Low who was then reported to be in Macau. Chinese authorities said the accusations were “groundless and unacceptable”.

“China does not and will never shelter foreign criminals,” the Chinese embassy in Kuala Lumpur said in a July 2020 statement, noting that Beijing would continue to assist Malaysian authorities in the matter.

The conundrum over Low’s presence in Chinese territory and Malaysia’s reluctance to confront Beijing about it is set to be discussed in a coming episode of the YouTube series, which will feature Malaysian politician Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman, who was in Mahathir’s cabinet.