Both did not attend court.
The High Court has ordered Eric Tan Kim Loong and Low May Lin, sister of Low Taek Jho, to repay US$2.795 billion and US$809,319 to 1MDB and its subsidiaries after both failed to appear in court, file a defence or attend trial.
Judge Mahazan Mat Taib granted a judgment in default after finding 1MDB had proven its case. She said evidence showed then prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak exercised de facto control over 1MDB’s major financial decisions, while Jho Low acted as his authorised proxy despite having no official role.
She noted that 1MDB’s management treated Jho Low’s instructions as Najib’s, and many key transactions were executed through Low-linked entities. “The identities of the recipients, the structure of the transactions, and the roles of Jho Low and Datuk Seri Najib establish that the funds reaching Tan Kim Loong and Low May Lin were tainted proceeds,” she said.
The court found that between 2009 and 2013, billions were diverted through four phases of siphoning — Good Star, Aabar, Tanore and Options Buyback — using offshore entities and trusted associates. The judge said funds raised for national projects were instead channelled into structures controlled by Jho Low and his network.
Tan was found to be the beneficial owner of British Virgin Islands entities Alsen Chance Holdings Limited and Blackstone Asia Real Estate Partners Limited, which received US$2.795 billion from 1MDB. The judge described Tan as an “essential conduit in the laundering and layering of the stolen funds” and said the scale and pattern of transfers made innocent receipt implausible.
Low May Lin personally received US$809,319 through four transfers from her father, Tan Sri Larry Low Hock Peng. The court said the transfers were gratuitous, lacked commercial rationale, and originated from misappropriated funds. “As the sister of Jho Low, her role as a personal beneficiary of siphoned funds fits squarely within the wider pattern of family-based concealment,” the judge said, adding that she was unjustly enriched.
Evidence from former 1MDB CEO Datuk Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi and two Kroll Advisory investigators, supported by bank records and forensic analysis, was unchallenged.
The court declared Tan and May Lin to be constructive trustees of the money received and liable for “secret profits” from the fraud. It ordered all such profits to be disgorged and allowed 1MDB to trace related assets. Both must pay 5 per cent interest from the date they received the funds until full repayment, along with RM500,000 in costs.
1MDB filed the civil suit in 2021 against Jho Low, his family members and Tan for fraudulent concealment, misappropriation, unjust enrichment, breach of trust and conspiracy. Default judgments had already been obtained in earlier proceedings against Low, his father, brother and mother.
Lawyers for 1MDB were Siva Kumar Kanagasabai, Lee Shih, Iffah Afrina Saleh, Villasha Anbalagan and Pavidren Sivananda Ratnam. Tan and May Lin had no legal representation.