Fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho, also known as Jho Low, will hand over assets worth more than US$100 million (RM471 million), to the authorities. This includes a luxury apartment in Paris and art pieces by Claude Monet and Andy Warhol.
This move was made to resolve a civil forfeiture case related to his role in the corruption and embezzlement scandal of investment company, 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
According to a report by Berita Harian, the forfeiture was announced by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), after US District Judge Dale Fischer approved a plea agreement with Jho Low and his family on Monday (June 24).
The forfeited assets were in addition to nearly US$1 billion (RM4.19 billion), including a superyacht worth US$120 million (RM503 million) that Jho Low and his family had previously forfeited.
The DOJ stated that Jho Low paid approximately US$35 million (RM146.57 million) for Monet’s painting ‘Vetheuil au Soleil’, Warhol’s painting ‘Colored Campbell’s Soup Can (Emerald Green) 1965’ and an apartment in Paris.
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The businessman and his family will also hand over assets worth US$67 million (RM280.47 million), including properties and bank accounts in Hong Kong, Singapore and Switzerland.
The DOJ also shared that it helped return more than US$1.5 billion (RM6.28 billion) related to 1MDB to Malaysia, in the largest civil asset surrender case in the department’s history.
But the forfeitures doesn’t mean he’s out of trouble.
Jho Low is still facing charges of money laundering and corruption conspiracy in Brooklyn, New York, in relation to 1MDB.
US and Malaysian authorities shared that more than US$1.5 billion (RM18.86 billion) was looted from 1MDB between 2009 and 2015, with some of the money being sent to offshore bank accounts and companies linked to Jho Low.
He also previously assisted former Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak in establishing 1MDB to promote economic development.
Goldman Sachs, which helped 1MDB sell bonds reached a US$2.9 billion (RM12.16 billion) settlement in 2020 for US criminal cases related to 1MDB. Banks, though, are not part of the civil forfeiture.
Do stay tuned for more updates.
Also read: New Documentary on Jho Low Shows Exclusive Interviews With Najib Razak, Anwar Ibrahim & More
