KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 2 — Putrajaya would like to get its hands on fugitive financier Low Taek Jho first, Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said today.

Speaking to the press after Budget 2019 was tabled today, Dr Mahathir added that there are several charges against Low but he remains on the run.

“We would like to find him first, but it doesn’t matter who gets him because we will get access to him too,” he said, commenting on the international cooperation against the alleged culprit behind the 1MDB financial scandal.

When asked for his opinion on the US Department of Justice’s (DoJ) charges against Low, Dr Mahathir said he believes he is lying as low as a “rat”.

“They would like to get Jho Low and put him on trial, but he’s nowhere to be seen. We don’t know where he is. We would also like to have him. We have several charges against him. US also want him.

“Before, he was a man of the world, flitting around in jet planes and on (the luxury yacht) Equanimity, leading a great life... Now he has to hide like a tikus (rat),” he said to the amusement of the press.

Yesterday, the DoJ charged Low along with two other Goldman and Sach’s bankers, including celebrity Kimora Lee Simmons’ husband Tim Leissner and Malaysian Roger Ng Chong Hwa.

Ng was arrested in Malaysia and will be extradited to the US, while Leissner pleaded guilty and was instructed to pay US$43.7 million (RM181.9 million) in restitution of ill-gotten gains.