Bradley Hope, the co-author of a best-selling book on the 1MDB scandal, has dismissed the idea that fugitive Low Taek Jho (Jho Low) is in Macau.
“We believe he’s under house arrest in Shanghai. He was in Macau a lot from 2015-2018, as well as Hong Kong Kong, Shenzhen and Thailand but after (former prime minister) Najib’s (Abdul Razak) electoral defeat his movements were more restricted to the mainland,” said Hope on Twitter.
He alleged that China is holding Low on a tight leash because of negotiations with Malaysia.
“This is also because his patrons in the spy services (Sun Lijun) are arrested and business partners at CCCC (China Communications Construction Company) ousted.
“He went from an intelligence asset to a liability after Najib was voted out,” said Hope.
He also claimed that Low and others, including his associate Eric Tan, all have wives and children now and they’ve been constant companions for years.
“Only (lawyer) Jasmine Loo Ai Swan appears to have broken from the group,” Hope said.
Along with Tom Wright, Hope is the bestselling co-author of “Billion Dollar Whale” and “Blood and Oil”. He is a Pulitzer Prize finalist and formerly a reporter for the Wall Street Journal.
He was responding to reports that the MACC reportedly “believes” that Malaysian-born fugitive financier Low is hiding in Macau.
According to a report by Al Jazeera, MACC was quoted in a written response as saying that this was confirmed by several individuals who have seen Low in Macau.
“MACC believes the individuals wanted for 1MDB, especially Low, are hiding in Macau,” the Doha-based news network said.
The report added that the revelation comes just weeks after the arrest of a relatively unknown 1MDB suspect Kee Kok Thiam.
Kee died in hospital yesterday after suffering a stroke.
Hope went on to pose a general question: “One question for Malaysia: what crime in your legal code for a prime minister conspiring with a foreign power to sacrifice national interest/sovereignty and overpay contracts using state money in exchange for covering up a massive fraud?” – Malaysiakini