ASEAN Beat | Diplomacy | Southeast Asia

1MDB Fugitive Jho Low Sought Pardon From US President Trump, Report Claims

The Malaysian financier recently sought a pardon, despite being accused of masterminding the theft of $4.5 billion from the state investment fund.

Equanimity, a superyacht owned by fugitive financier Jho Low, which was allegedly bought using funds from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

Jho Low, a fugitive Malaysian financier wanted in connection with one of the largest financial scandals of the 21st century, has reportedly sought a pardon from U.S. President Donald Trump.

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on Tuesday that the request for a pardon “was filed in recent weeks,” citing a number of people familiar with the matter. A Justice Department website lists a pending request for a “Pardon after Completion of Sentence” under the name Taek Jho Low that was filed this year, the WSJ added.

If granted, the pardon would remove U.S. criminal charges against Low, who is accused of masterminding the draining of 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), a Malaysian state investment fund.

The 1MDB state investment fund was established by Prime Minister Najib Razak’s government in 2009. In the ensuing years, U.S. and Malaysian investigators claim, more than $4.5 billion was stolen from 1MDB by high-level officials of the fund and their associates, funds that were concealed within a financial maze of shell companies and dummy corporations.

Chief among these, allegedly, was Low, who prosecutors say used the stolen funds to pay off political patrons and bankroll a series of lavish purchases, including luxury real estate, fine art, and a $250 million superyacht, as well as to buy himself access to Hollywood’s elite. In their 2018 book on the scandal, former Wall Street Journal reporters Tom Wright and Bradley Hope describe the pilfering of 1MDB as one of “the greatest financial heists in history.”

The 1MDB scandal helped bring down the government of Najib, who in 2020 was found guilty of abuse of power, criminal breach of trust, and money laundering for illegally receiving around $10 million from SRC International, a former unit of 1MDB. He began serving a 12-year prison sentence after losing his final appeal in 2022. In December, Najib was sentenced to a further 15 years in prison in a second 1MDB-related trial.

The scandal has also led to criminal investigations in a number of other countries, including the United States, Switzerland, and Singapore, and several others involved in the 1MDB scandal,........

© The Diplomat