Wanted businessman Low Taek Jho is not facing joint charges by the US and Malaysia, said Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
- PM names Najib, Rosmah, Riza Aziz and Jho Low as people who would know what had happened to 1MDB funds and where the money is
- Roger Ng to be extradited to US to face charges
- PM vows scandal like MDB will never happen again
“The cooperation (between Malaysia and the US Department of Justice) is very close. If there is a need for us to jointly charge him, we will do so. But at the moment, the charges are different,” the prime minister told a press conference yesterday.
“What is going to be the problem (for Low) with the US is money laundering. For us, it is (about) where 1Malaysia Development Bhd money has disappeared to.”
He said Low, better known as Jho Low, the alleged mastermind of the multibillion-dollar 1MDB scandal, would know what had happened to the state investor’s funds.
So, too, would former prime minister Najib Razak, who also held the finance portfolio, his wife, Rosmah Mansor, and his stepson, Riza Aziz, added Dr Mahathir.
“I am quite sure Najib, Rosmah and Riza know where the money is, but they are not telling, of course. We’ll wait for them to change their mind.”
Low was charged in absentia by Malaysian authorities in August with eight counts of money laundering, involving BSI Bank in Singapore and Switzerland, between December 2013 and June 2014.
Three charges are for receiving money to the tune of US$261 million (RM1 billion), and the other five are related to the transfer of US$196 million.
The DoJ has indicted Low for conspiracy to commit money laundering and bribing foreign officials, together with former Goldman Sachs banker Roger Ng Chong Hwa.
Ng was arrested in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday and will be extradited to the US.
Dr Mahathir said the Pakatan Harapan government will ensure a scandal like 1MDB never happens again.
“It will never happen again. What Najib did was set up a company that was not governed by government rules, and then borrowed RM42 billion. Then, the money was stolen.
“We don’t do that any more.” – November 3, 2018. – TMI