Jho Low to return Warhol, Monet art in new US Justice Department deal linked to 1MDB
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Jho Low still faces charges over conspiring to launder billions of dollars taken from 1MDB, and for paying bribes, and more.
PHOTO: THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
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WASHINGTON – The US Justice Department (DOJ) reached a deal with Malaysian fugitive financier Low Taek Jho and his family to get back more than US$100 million (S$135.8 million) of assets including artworks by Claude Monet and Andy Warhol – the latest asset recovery linked to the multi-billion-dollar 1MDB scandal in Malaysia.
The DOJ announced the agreement on June 26 with the fugitive, better known as Jho Low, unnamed members of his family and various trusts to resolve two civil forfeiture cases brought against assets purchased using funds allegedly from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
“Under the agreement, the department will coordinate with foreign partners to facilitate the liquidation and return of these assets to Malaysia,” the DOJ said in a statement.
Before this settlement, the US had helped return over US$1.4 billion in assets associated with the US$4.5 billion money laundering and bribery scheme.
Low has repeatedly declared his innocence in the past.
The 1MDB scandal, which also dragged in Goldman Sachs Group and Hollywood, created political upheaval in Malaysia, with former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak losing elections
Najib was eventually sentenced to jail for crimes related to the fund
Under the latest agreements with the US, Low agreed to return a luxury apartment in Paris and artworks in Switzerland by Warhol and Monet, which he bought for about US$35 million.
The other involves returning to Malaysia about US$67 million in property and cash in bank accounts in Hong Kong, Switzerland and Singapore.
In 2020, Low struck a deal with US prosecutors to recoup almost US$700 million of assets, including a Beverly Hills hotel, and real estate in New York and London.
That was in addition to US$260 million of assets, including a US$126 million super yacht
Low still faces charges in New York over conspiring to launder billions of dollars taken from 1MDB and for paying bribes to various Malaysian and UAE officials.
He also faces a case in a District of Columbia court over making and concealing foreign campaign contributions to the US presidential election in 2012.
The Malaysian authorities have been trying, with no success, to track and repatriate Low for years. He was spotted in 2023 in Macau.
Low was charged in absentia in 2018 by a Malaysian court with eight counts of money laundering and issued a warrant of arrest for his role in 1MDB.
A separate Malaysian court said in 2020 that he played a key role in transferring RM42 million (S$12.07 million) from a former 1MDB unit to Najib’s accounts.
Najib has claimed innocence, and got his prison sentence halved
