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Malaysia 1MDB scandal: alleged Jho Low aide Jasmine Loo arrested as crackdown continues
- Jasmine Loo, formerly a legal counsel to the 1MDB fund, was said to have fled Malaysia before the 2018 general election
- No details were revealed about Loo’s sudden emergence in Malaysia, and she has said she is willing to cooperate with Malaysian authorities
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Malaysian authorities on Wednesday said that Jasmine Loo Ai Swan, an alleged key accomplice of 1MDB scandal mastermind Jho Low, had been arrested in Kuala Lumpur, signifying another major development in efforts to track down those responsible for the multibillion-dollar plunder.
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Home Minister Saiffudin Nasution said in a press conference that Loo – formerly a legal counsel to the 1MDB state fund – was arrested last Friday and was currently in remand for questioning at the Dang Wangi police station in the capital city.
Loo was detained under Section 409 of the penal code relating to criminal breach of trust, Saifuddin said.
The minister, conveying a message from Loo’s lawyer, said she was willing to cooperate with Malaysian authorities. Pressed by reporters on the circumstances behind Loo’s sudden emergence in Malaysia and her whereabouts before her arrival in the country, Saifuddin declined to reveal further details.
The latest detention comes as the government of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim steps up efforts to bring Low back to Malaysia to face legal charges for his role in the 1MDB corruption scandal. While media reports have placed Low as being in China, Malaysian officials have not confirmed this and Beijing has in the past reacted angrily to suggestions that it was harbouring the billionaire.
The former prime minister Najib Razak, with whom Low had a close relationship, is currently serving a 12-year jail sentence after a conviction linked to the case.
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Loo is believed to have led a flamboyant lifestyle in the 2010s, during the heyday of the plundering, and before the 2018 Malaysian general election which saw Najib’s rivals take power on an anti-corruption platform. Loo is said to have fled Malaysia soon before that poll, along with several others linked to Low.
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