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Malaysia
This Week in AsiaPolitics

1MDB scandal: Anwar says Malaysia in talks with countries to speed up Jho Low’s extradition

  • Anwar says his administration is working with ‘many countries’ to repatriate Low, who masterminded the looting of US$4.5 billion from the sovereign wealth fund
  • The Malaysian prime minister refused to be drawn over reports the billionaire, on the run since 2018, has been hiding in China

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Fugitive financier Jho Low is wanted for his role in Malaysia’s multibillion-dollar 1MDB scandal. Photo: SCMP
Hadi Azmi
Malaysia is working with “many countries” to expedite the return of fugitive financier Jho Low, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said on Friday as he refused to be drawn over reports that the flamboyant fixer at the heart of the 1MDB scandal is in China and could soon be offered up by Beijing.
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Low – dubbed the mastermind of the web of conspiracies involving Malaysia’s state-owned 1MDB fund which saw US$4.5 billion stolen and laundered through art, diamonds and property – has been on the run since 2018 after his benefactor and co-conspirator, former prime minister Najib Razak, lost power in that year’s election.
Since taking office last November, Anwar has pledged to chase down the culprits linked to the sprawling, global embezzlement scandal and return as much of the money to Malaysian taxpayers as possible.

However, he would not be drawn into speculation over Low’s whereabouts and allegations he is holed up in China, with Beijing’s consent.

“We never confirmed where he is, but we are negotiating with countries to expedite the process,” Anwar told reporters, declining to name the nations but insisting they were supporting Malaysia’s quest. “Of course, it is a complicated process. It involves many countries, intelligence services, Interpol, et cetera.”

On April 20, investigative journalist Bradley Hope, who co-wrote the book Billion Dollar Whale on Low’s exploits in the 1MDB scandal, published a report that the businessman’s arrest “is in play”, saying that China was ready to hand him over to Malaysian authorities as part of a diplomatic charm offensive.

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Adding it could happen in a matter of weeks, Hope’s report claimed that the matter was discussed by Anwar in his recent inaugural visit to Beijing in March.

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