Return home, clear your name, Jho Low
GEORGE TOWN: Fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho, better known as Jho Low, has been urged to return to Malaysia to clear his name in the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal, says a family acquaintance turned state lawmaker.
“It is not good for the state and country to be constantly associated with what the media has termed as the biggest financial scandal in recent memory,” said Kebun Bunga assemblyman Jason Ong Khan Lee, who last met Jho Low and his family about a decade ago.
Ong said the legal fraternity continues to uphold the principle that a person is innocent until proven guilty, hence Jho Low should not be unduly worried and just return home.
“I understand that there is this suspicion that the judiciary may be tempted to cave in under political pressure but the Malaysian legal system is supposed to be reformed by now.”
“There is this distinctive effort to separate the judiciary from the executive,” said Ong, a senior PKR leader here.
Jho Low and his family’s present whereabouts remain uncertain.
Jho Low’s father, Tan Sri Larry Low Hock Peng, is a prominent corporate leader who had previously served as the president of the Penang Chinese Chamber of Commerce.
Mansion seized
Over the weekend, the police seized the Low’s family mansion at Tanjung Bungah Park here over the weekend as part of the long-standing investigations into the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal.
Jho Low has been wanted by police as a person of interest in investigations into the scandal.
In response to the seizure, Jho Low’s rebuked the action on the basis that the family mansion was constructed a decade before the 1MDB scandal broke during Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s first administration.
The lawyers also indicated that reports of the seizure is another attempt to gain political mileage and to continue with the trial by media.
Ong added that there would not be a closure to the allegations as long as long as Jho Low does not come forward.
“People may forget as life goes on, but the case will prolong as monies were lost; big sums. It is human nature to seek a conclusive ending, said Ong.
A notice, directed at Jho Low’s mother Puan Sri Goh Gaik Ewe, has been pasted on the front of the mansion as she is believed to be listed as the property owner.
This document was a notice of seizure by the police under subsection 51(1) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001.
The seizure of the three-storey mansion also means that any dealings over the property are prohibited, as it is now under the jurisdiction of the government.
The mansion is the second major asset (which had previously belonged to Jho Low, or his family, or associates) to be seized by the Malaysian government since investigations formally began, in the wake of the 14th general election last year, into his alleged money laundering tied to the 1MDB fund.
Previously, the super yacht Equanimity, which was valued at US$250 million (RM1 billion), was confiscated last year and is set to be auctioned off to the highest bidder later this year.
Both the police and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission have directed questions by the media to the Attorney-General’s Office.
