This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on July 4, 2018

PETALING JAYA: Businessman Low Taek Jho (Jho Low), linked to the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal, needs to return to the country to assist the 1MDB Special Task Force, said the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner Datuk Seri Mohd Shukri Abdull.

“Why should we meet him in Dubai? He’s Malaysian. He is welcome to come back to Malaysia and meet with MACC,” he said at a press conference yesterday after launching the book Corruption and Crime in Malaysia written by Transparency International Malaysia chief Datuk Akhbar Satar.

“Not only [is] the MACC [looking for him], but other authorities in Singapore and the US are also looking for him. If reporters have any information, please forward to us,” he added.

On June 13, a news portal reported that Low, described as the mastermind behind the 1MDB scandal, was in Dubai and had offered to meet the 1MDB task force in the Gulf city.

His lawyers were first expected to discuss with MACC officials here on how Low could assist in the 1MDB probe, The Malaysian Insight reported.

A spokesman for the Penang-born billionaire issued a statement last month saying Low had instructed his lawyers to get in touch with the MACC, after the commission said it wanted to question him about former 1MDB subsidiary SRC International Sdn Bhd.

Low’s whereabouts have not been established. Nanyang Siang Pau reported in May that he could be in Taiwan. Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had earlier said Putrajaya “roughly knows” where to find Low.