KUALA LUMPUR – The Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) has reiterated its commitment to capturing fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho, who is infamously implicated in the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal.
In a statement today, Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani said that efforts to locate the Penang-born Low, also known as Jho Low, have always been ongoing.
“The veracity of information received on the suspect’s whereabouts in foreign countries have also been analysed by PDRM, including by using cooperation channels with authorities in the relevant countries,” he said.
He added that requests to extradite Low cannot be made as of now as no Interpol member countries have confirmed his presence in their territory.
Malaysian police had previously applied for and obtained a Red Notice from Interpol against the elusive Low in 2018.
Interpol’s Red Notice is a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender or similar legal action.
Acryl Sani noted that besides PDRM filing 13 charges in court against Low in absentia over the 1MDB controversy, authorities in Singapore and the United States have also conducted investigations against Low and initiated similar legal action.
He also urged members of the public with possible knowledge of Low’s whereabouts to relay such information to police.
“Clearly, PDRM remains committed to ensuring that Low is arrested and brought to justice,” he said.
On August 31, it was reported that Low was allegedly spotted in Shanghai Disneyland in China in 2019, according to investigative journalists and Project Brazen co-founders Tom Wright and Bradley Hope.
The journalistic duo are authors of the best-selling book Billion Dollar Whale, which purportedly covers the 1MDB scandal along with the involvement of Low and the now-incarcerated Najib.
On August 23, Najib became the first former Malaysian prime minister to serve jail time, following the apex court’s decision to uphold the high court’s previous ruling that he was guilty of all seven charges in his corruption case related to 1MDB subsidiary SRC International Sdn Bhd. – The Vibes, September 8, 2022