KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia has recovered assets worth US$8.57 million (RM39.1 million) linked to fugitive financier Low Taek Jho, better known as Jho Low, and his family members.
According to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), the recovery was made with the assistance of Singapore authorities and stems from a global civil forfeiture settlement reached between Jho Low and the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) in connection with the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal.
The MACC said additional accounts belonging to Low’s family members are expected to be repatriated soon, with all recovered funds to be channelled into the 1MDB Asset Recovery Trust Account.
To date, US authorities have secured more than US$1.5 billion in assets linked to Jho Low, much of which has already been returned to Malaysia. With this latest recovery, along with the recent US$330 million (RM1.4 billion) settlement with JPMorgan Chase & Co, the total assets repatriated to Malaysia from the 1MDB case now stand at RM31.19 billion.
Jho Low, accused of masterminding the multibillion-dollar fraud involving 1MDB, allegedly diverted billions through offshore entities and bank accounts to fund a lavish lifestyle. He has been a fugitive since 2016 and faces criminal charges in both Malaysia and the United States.
The MACC stressed that the recovery underscores the government’s commitment through its multi-agency task force—which includes the Attorney General’s Chambers, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), the Royal Malaysia Police, and the National Anti-Financial Crime Centre—to pursue all misappropriated funds and hold accountable those involved in one of the world’s largest financial scandals.
Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who established 1MDB in 2009 as a state investment fund, has already been convicted in a related case involving its former subsidiary SRC International. He was sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment and fined RM210 million, though a partial royal pardon has since reduced the sentence to six years and the fine to RM50 million.
