KUALA LUMPUR: Jasmine Loo Ai Swan, former 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) general-counsel, once lived a high-roller life abroad, rubbing shoulders with Hollywood celebrities and had even bought a swanky apartment worth USD4.5 million in New York.
However, she is now living a life far from the glitz and glamour, after being hauled to face probes for alleged criminal breach of trust (CBT) soon after arriving in Kuala Lumpur on June 7 and remanded by the Dang Wang police the following day.
This was after years on the run as Loo, believed to be aged 42 this year, fled Malaysia after the 14th General Election in 2018 after the fall of the Barisan Nasional government.
Sarawak Report said Loo’s relationship with fugitive financier Low Taek Jho went beyond the financial scandals which saw her allegedly transferring USD16 million dollars stolen from the sovereign fund and banked into her secret bank account.
Loo had also reportedly gone on a ski trip in France with celebrity couple, Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz, who had been paid ludicruous sums by Jho Low for their performances.
Sarawak Report said Loo served as the in-house counsel for both Sarawak’s UBG Bank where Jho Low had taken a 49 per cent share in 2008 and 1MDB respectively, as well as the executive director of group strategy.
It said that Loo was paid handsomely for her role as a lawyer who facilitated the documents to enable the theft of billions of dollars.
“Her reward, as documented by the US Department of Justice and FBI investigators, were payments totalling millions of dollars that were transferred into her River Dee account at the notorious Falcon Bank, transforming the slip of a young law graduate into a substantially wealthy woman,” wrote Sarawak Report.
In May, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said negotiations are ongoing for Jho Low, back to Malaysia to face the music.
Later that month, Kee Kok Thiam, a key suspect, died of a stroke.
He had also escaped the country and was later deported from Macau for overstaying his visa.
He was arrested upon his arrival at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport Terminal 2 (KLIA2) in early May.
He had divulged to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission that Jho Low was in Macau, and so were fellow 1MDB fugitives and suspects — Eric Tan Kim Loong, Casey Tang Keng Chee, Geh Choh Heng and Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil. NST
ANN / NST
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