KUALA LUMPUR - The Malaysian government is working on expediting the extradition of fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho or Jho Low through collaborations with international agencies, said Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said, the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of law and institutional reforms.
Ms Azalina said that the efforts also involved the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).
“MACC has been cooperating with foreign enforcement agencies to obtain all information related to Low.
“Various efforts and negotiations through diplomatic channels are being implemented to speed up the process of bringing Low back to Malaysia,” she said in a written reply to Labis MP Pang Hok Liong on Tuesday.
Mr Pang was asking the minister whether the government has or will request the Chinese government to bring back Low to the country.
Ms Azalina also said that MACC has issued an Interpol Red Notice against Low since 2018 for his involvement in the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) case.
The Penang-born Low was first charged in absentia in 2018 by a Malaysian court with eight counts of money laundering and issued a warrant of arrest.
The US Federal Bureau of Investigation has accused Low of stealing US$1.4 billion (S$1.9 billion) from three bond transactions that Goldman Sachs Group helped facilitate for the Malaysian wealth fund.
A separate Malaysian court in 2020 said Low played a key role in transferring RM42 million (S$12.4 million) from a former 1MDB unit to former prime minister Najib Razak’s accounts.
On May 5, Malaysia Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said the government was negotiating with the authorities overseas to secure the return of Low.
He said the process was very complicated because it involves another country, intelligence services and Interpol.
But he declined to confirm the whereabouts of the fugitive businessman.
In April, former Wall Street Journal reporter Bradley Hope claimed in a report that the Malaysian government may have been working on a deal with the Chinese government during Mr Anwar’s official visit in March.
Mr Hope and his colleague Tom Wright co-wrote the book Billion Dollar Whale, which documented Low’s financial exploits.
They now share updates on the 1MDB case through videos, podcasts and blogs under their company Project Brazen.
The duo have asserted that Low is in China – based on tip-offs from their sources. THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
