KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 16 — Local and international authorities are still stumped trying to establish the exact whereabouts of fugitive financier Low Taek Jho, or Jho Low, with Malaysia also among those left wanting, said Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin.
The home minister, during his Budget 2022 winding-up speech today, said despite Singapore, the US, and Malaysia all having issued Red Notices to the International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) for the capture of Low, all three nations are still in the dark over his exact location.
“Singapore has filed charges against Jho Low in 2016 and obtained a Red Notice from Interpol that same year, and the US have also filed for charges against Jho Low in the New York Court in 2018 with an arrest warrant out that same year.
“Interpol has 194 member nations, but until today there is no information received by Malaysia, Singapore, or even the US from any member countries of Interpol on the whereabouts of Jho Low,” he said.
Hamzah said despite former inspector-general of police Tan Sri Abdul Hamid Bador’s assertion of Low seeking refuge from Chinese authorities in China, a denial issued by the Chinese High Commission here denying the claims brings them back to square one.
“The Chinese High Commission in 2020 issued a statement denying that Low was enjoying the protection of Beijing, so this issue, as of now, we do not know where is Jho Low,” he said in Parliament today.
He added that the Home Ministry remains committed to detecting the whereabouts of Low, and for him to be brought back to face the allegations and criminal charges framed against him here.
Low, a Penang-born businessman, has been on the run since the change of governments in 2018.
The fugitive financier has been alleged as one of the masterminds behind the billions of ringgit siphoned from former sovereign wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
Low is also said to have been a close confidant of former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who himself has been convicted and is on trial for more than 25 charges related to alleged abuses related to 1MDB funds.
