Fugitive businessperson Jho Low is believed to be in China under the protection of those with good relations with the country’s top officials, according to DAP lawmaker Tony Pua and Sarawak Report editor Clare Rewcastle-Brown.
The pair claimed Low’s protectors felt the need to do this due to their possible links to the 1MDB scandal.
“Nobody seems to admit that Low is in the country. We have our suspicions and many of us believe he is actually in China.
“But that has been officially denied by China and the Chinese government has said that if they do know his location they will be more than happy to assist in capturing him and bringing him back to Malaysia, but to date, we haven’t got any real news on his whereabouts,” Pua said in a webinar conducted by the Kuwait Association for Protecting Public Funds and the Kuwait Bar Association.
He referred to the latest claims by Sarawak Report which alleged that Kuwait entities were working with major state-owned Chinese construction companies – the Silk Road & Belt fund and also the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China – to continue to process billions of dollars of suspected 1MDB funds during the course of 2016 up until the final months of 2019.
“The latest exclusive by Sarawak Report actually gives higher credibility to the theory that he (Low) is protected by some parties in China due to the fear of scandals which will be exposed on how much some of these Chinese parties have been complicit in the entire money laundering (operation),” said Pua.
The Wall Street Journal reported on June 9 that Low was able to slip into Kuwait despite being on Interpol’s red notice list.
It said Low entered Kuwait last September and quoted a Malaysian investigating officer as saying that up to six months ago, Low spent most of his time in Wuhan, China.
Pua rejected the moderator’s suggestion that Low might still be in Malaysia.
Meanwhile, Rewcastle-Brown said some individuals were willing to protect Low in China and did not want him to disclose information in a court outside of the country.
“I think Tony is right. I think Low is in China,” she said.
“I have bills in a 6-star hotel paid by a royal personage on behalf of Low in Shanghai.” she claimed.
“Probably certain people with very important connections would rather keep him in China than have him spill the beans in a court outside China,” she added.
Low, along with former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak, has been accused of misappropriating millions of ringgit through 1MDB.
International investigators, including the US Department of Justice, have concluded that at least US$4.5 billion of 1MDB funds were misused.
Last January, Low denied being the mastermind behind the 1MDB scandal, claiming he was the only mediator in the deal involving the company. – Malaysiakini