Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said Putrajaya will continue to use ‘diplomatic channels’ in the bid to bring the fugitive businessman back.
KUALA LUMPUR — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today declined to confirm a former Wall Street Journal reporter’s claim that Beijing had agreed to capture Low Taek Jho, the 1MDB embezzlement scandal mastermind on the run, but said efforts to capture the fugitive businessman is ongoing.
Anwar said Putrajaya continues to use “diplomatic channels” in the bid to bring the fugitive businessman back, a process he described as “complicated” and involves several countries.
“We’re not sure if we tracked Jho Low in China,” Anwar told reporters when asked about the matter here.
Last month Bradley Hope, one of the co-authors of the Billion Dollar Whale book about the 1MDB corruption scandal, suggested in his blog that China could offer to repatriate fugitive businessman Low to Malaysia as part of a deal that would see the Anwar administration facilitate more Chinese projects here, among others.
Hope claims extraditing Low is also meant to improve bilateral ties with Beijing which is accused of being complicit in the attempted cover-up of the 1MDB scandal, and for its support of then prime minister Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Razak, now on trial for his role in the affair.
China’s alleged involvement in the scandal has fuelled rumours that Low enjoys Beijing’s protection. The authorities believe the fugitive is currently hiding in China.
Anwar said negotiation is taking place to expedite the process of repatriating Low and that several countries are involved. But the prime minister was coy when asked if the Chinese government was among them.
“Negotiation is taking place to expedite the process,” he told reporters here.
“Discussions (on the matter) are underway with the countries involved through the proper diplomatic channels.” – MM
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim did not want to confirm if the government is negotiating with China.
PETALING JAYA: Negotiations are ongoing to bring fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho, also known as Jho Low, back to Malaysia.
“Discussions (on the matter) are underway with the countries involved through the proper diplomatic channels,” said Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
Anwar said the process to repatriate Low, the fugitive financier at the centre of the 1MDB scandal, is a complicated one that involves multiple countries, intelligence services and Interpol.
However, he did not want to confirm if these negotiations involved China.
“No, I can’t comment on that,” he said.
It was reported last month that the government was believed to be negotiating with Beijing to extradite Low.
Citing sources, co-author of “Billion Dollar Whale” Bradley Hope said such an arrangement was being “hotly debated” inside Putrajaya in the wake of Anwar’s trip to China in March.
“This would be huge, fascinating and mark the end of the main storyline of the 1MDB scandal – from its founding in 2009 to its collapse amid scandal in 2015 and all the insane partying and spending along the way until 2023,” he said in a website dedicated to tracking down Low.
Hope said the arrangement would involve handing over Low to Malaysia, as well as “wiping the slate clean” over China’s alleged involvement in Low’s deals to cover up the 1MDB fraud.
Low, who has been charged in Malaysia and the US over allegations that he orchestrated the theft of US$4.5 billion from 1MDB, is believed to be in Macau, although Beijing has denied protecting the fugitive financier.
Low was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment in absentia by a Kuwaiti court on money laundering charges in March.
Last September, Inspector-General of Police Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani said efforts to track Low were ongoing, and no Interpol member countries had confirmed his presence within their territories. FMT
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