GEORGE TOWN: Fugitive financier Low Taek Jho (pix), better known as Jho Low, should either return home to Malaysia or go to the US, to clear his name of the money laundering charges in relation to the scandal-laden 1MDB fund, said US Ambassador to Malaysia Kamala Shirin Lakhdhir.
Kamala said the US through the Department of Justice (DoJ) and Malaysia continue to collaborate closely over the global investigations into 1MDB.
Jho Low and two bankers were indicted last year by the DoJ for conspiring to launder money and violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
He is also wanted by Putrajaya over his alleged role in the scandal, which is billed as the largest of its kind in the world, owing to the sheer amount of the monies laundered away – allegedly some RM42 billion.
Kamala said that the case is now under litigation in both the US and Malaysia.
“The US began to get involved when we discovered a nexus of money trails through the US financial institutions. So we needed to investigate.”
Kamala also reaffirmed that the US will return the assets stolen from Malaysia under the 1MDB scandal.
According to her, the 1MDB scandal is a complex case with far reaching global connections from Singapore to US and Switzerland as well as other nations.
She was speaking to the Malaysian media ahead of the US’ 243rd Independence Day celebrations, which were held later at the Equatorial Hotel here by US multinational companies in Penang.
She pointed out that the US was also celebrating the 50th anniversary of the landings on the moon by the Apollo 11 astronauts, and three US companies who played a role in the landmark achievement have branches in Penang. Namely Motorola, IBM and Honeywell.
She also expressed optimism that the trade volume between Malaysia and the US would continue to soar this year on the back of manufacturing and foreign direct investments (FDI) driving it forward.
Last year, exports from Malaysia to the US was about RM90 billion, the highest value in about a decade.
Malaysia’s major exports were related to high end electronics as well as medical devices.
Last year, the US was Malaysia’s third largest trading partner with a volume of over RM150 billion while US multinationals Intel and Jabil are the biggest private sector employers here, jointly hiring up to 10,000 workers, many of whom are Malaysians.
