KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 18 — An Opposition MP has asked the government for an update on efforts to bring 1Malaysia Development Berhad-linked (1MDB) fugitive Jho Low back to Malaysia.

Gobind Singh Deo, who is DAP’s Puchong MP, said apart from the inspector-general of police’s (IGP) assurance that Low will be brought back to Malaysia, he wanted to know whether the government is doing anything else to ensure this happens.

“I want to know, Speaker, what steps has the government taken to ensure that we can bring Jho Low back to the country?

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“Why are we not hearing anything about this these days?” said Gobind during his debate on the Budget 2021 Bill in Parliament today.

The former communications and multimedia minister raised the matter in relation to the country’s current financial situation, saying it needs all manner of monetary resources to buoy the people through these trying times.

“When we are here, looking here and there to ensure that we have enough financial resources to reduce the rakyat’s burden during these trying times, what about the efforts to ensure that Jho Low is brought back to Malaysia, action be taken against him if he is found guilty, and more importantly regarding assets, which have been lost?” he asked.

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Gobind was referring to IGP Tan Sri Abdul Hamid Bador’s statement yesterday which confirmed news reports that 1MDB fugitive Jho Low has been attempting to negotiate with the government for immunity against prosecution since 2018.

Abdul Hamid also urged Low to come out from hiding and return to Malaysia and offer his testimony about the IMDB financial scandal to the public prosecutor.

“We cannot have just the IGP say ‘please come back’ [to Low],” Gobind sid.

“Is that the only thing we can do? What about existing procedures that can ensure that those who needed to be brought back to face the law or charged and have assets returned to the country?”

According to Al Jazeera’s report on November 16, Low, who has purportedly been living in a house owned by a senior member of the Chinese Communist Party in Macau since February 2018, has been able to travel around the world with relative ease due to “high-level government assistance”. The report did not elaborate on which government was aiding Low.

The report from Al Jazeera based on the several leaked audio recordings it released publicly, if genuine, would be the first time the world has publicly heard Low’s voice in conversation since the 1MDB scandal emerged.

Al Jazeera reported Low denying any wrongdoing in the 1MDB financial scandal, pinning everything on former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak who was also finance minister at that time, and claiming the Abu Dhabi government to be complicit in the abuse of the Malaysian sovereign fund.