A spokesman for Jho Low, who was charged in absentia at a US court yesterday, said as noted in the indictment, the businessman held no formal position at 1MDB, nor was he ever employed by Goldman Sachs or the governments of Malaysia or Abu Dhabi.
“Furthermore, the bond offerings detailed in the indictment were undertaken openly and lawfully between experienced, well-regulated financial institutions and government entities.
“The US Department of Justice specifically states that the charges in the indictment are allegations, and that Mr Low is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. Mr Low simply asks that the public keep an open mind regarding this case until all of the evidence comes to light, which he believes will vindicate him,” the spokesman said in a statement issued through Jho Low’s legal team.
Jho Low, together with former Goldman Sachs bankers Roger Ng and Tim Leissner, are the first individuals to be charged in the US in relation to 1MDB.
Leissner yesterday pleaded guilty to conspiring to launder money and violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by paying bribes to Malaysian and Abu Dhabi officials and circumventing Goldman’s internal accounting controls, according to prosecutors. He was ordered to forfeit US$43.7 million.
Ng, meanwhile, was arrested in Malaysia in accordance with a provisional arrest warrant issued at the request of the US.
Jho Low, who previously said he did consulting work for 1MDB, is portrayed by some global investigators as the mastermind behind some of the schemes involving missing funds.
His whereabouts are not publicly known, with Home Minister Muhyiddin Yassin telling the Dewan Rakyat on Monday that the fugitive businessman has been moving around to avoid detection.
Muhyiddin added however that the government had tracked down Jho Low’s latest location and was seeking cooperation from a foreign country to bring him back to Malaysia to face charges related to 1MDB.
Former finance minister Daim Zainuddin, who was one of the prime minister’s advisers during Pakatan Harapan’s first 100 days in power, told Astro Awani earlier this week that Jho Low was still attempting to broker an immunity deal with authorities.
He added that Jho Low had reached out as recently as last week, seeking immunity in exchange for assistance in finding assets linked to 1MDB.