Malaysia’s China ties make it ‘complicit’ in failure to bring Jho Low to justice, Syed Saddiq says

Rising political star says deals with China mean it is hard to push for any serious action against Low, who was allegedly spotted in Shanghai

Despite government pledge to bring down perpetrators of 1MDB scandal, former prime minister Najib Razak remains sole high-profile figure to be jailed

Reading Time:3 minutes

Malaysian politician Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman. Photo: Reuters

Published: 6:50pm, 14 Sep 2022Updated: 6:55pm, 14 Sep 2022

Malaysia’s diplomatic and trade ties with Beijing outweigh its desire to seek “closure” in the 1MDB corruption scandal, causing it to turn a blind eye to fugitive financier Jho Low’s suspected whereabouts in China, according to rising political star Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman.

“This, to me, is so openly and blatantly wrong. Yet we are complicit through omission and silence,” Syed Saddiq, 29, told journalist Tom Wright during a podcast for the YouTube series “Where is Jho Low?”, which shares insights into Low’s possible hiding places.

Former Wall Street Journal reporters Wright and Bradley Hope co-authored Billion Dollar Whale, which traced the involvement of Low – the eponymous “whale” – in looting billions of dollars from the 1MDB state fund.

Fugitive financier Jho Low was allegedly spotted in Shanghai. Photo: Sam Tsang

They have since launched Project Brazen, an investigative journalism outfit which, among other things, is tracking Low’s whereabouts. Previous podcasts revealed Low was allegedly spotted in Shanghai Disneyland and luxury hotels in the city.

“We were one of the only democracies which was able to review the multibillion-dollar contracts with the Chinese government,” Syed Saddiq said. “However, one deal, which still has not been secured, is to bring back Jho Low.”

The contracts include projects under Beijing’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative, such as the 81 billion ringgit (US$17.9 billion) East Coast Rail Link project which the administration under former Malaysian leader Mahathir Mohamad was able to renegotiate down to 50 billion ringgit in 2019.

The discrepancy in cost was due to a “secret mission” in 2016 by then-Prime Minister Najib Razak and Low to get Beijing to help pay for 1MDB funds they stole, according to Najib’s special officer Amhari Efendi Nazaruddin, the star witness in the ongoing 1MDB trials.