Citing sources, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) said Low, better known as Jho Low, made transfers of about US$1.5 million to Hawaii investment firm LNS Capital in 2017.

LNS Capital is co-owned by one Larry Davis, who donated US$100,000 to the Trump Victory committee in December that year.

According to federal records, WSJ said, more than US$60,000 was given to the Republican National Committee (RNC), US$5,400 was given directly to the campaign to re-elect Trump, and the rest was distributed to state Republican parties and related campaigns.

However, RNC denied any wrongdoing, saying: “Trump Victory does not accept contributions from corporations or foreign nationals in accordance with the law.”

Jho Low is wanted in connection with allegations that he stole billions of dollars from 1MDB. The state investment fund is at the heart of a scandal which allegedly saw US$4.5 billion misappropriated.

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. He has been described as the “best witness” to provide information on alleged crimes at 1MDB.

His whereabouts are unknown despite efforts to locate and arrest him in order that he can stand trial.

In a statement today, his lawyer Robin Rathmell said Jho Low “categorically denies” having made any of the donations mentioned in the WSJ article.

“These allegations are completely false and without any basis at all – as WSJ was informed before publishing them.

“Mr Low has never entered into any agreement and/or paid (or authorised payment of) any money to the entities referred to in the WSJ article as supposedly having made political donations.”

Adding that Jho Low had never heard of LNS or Davis until referenced by WSJ, Rathmell said it was disappointing that the paper “chose to ignore legal privilege”.