KUALA LUMPUR (July 15): Fugitive financier Low Taek Jho (Jho Low), who has been accused of masterminding the heist of billions of dollars from 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), has offered RM1.5 billion to the Malaysian Government to settle the charges against him, according to sources.

However, the Malaysian Government has rejected the proposal, a source told The Edge.

Jho Low, who is accused of siphoning money from 1MDB, is facing a US$3.78 billion (about RM15.85 billion) suit filed by 1MDB and its four subsidiaries.

It is believed that Jho Low had former Attorney General Tan Sri Apandi Ali represent him in negotiations with the Malaysian government.

Apandi Ali, who has not responded to queries from The Edge on the matter at press time, had cleared former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak of any wrongdoing in 1MDB in 2016 during his tenure as AG under Najib's administration.

Following a change in government in 2018, Najib was charged with abusing his position as then PM and Finance Minister as well as chairman of 1MDB's board of advisers, to receive gratification. He is also facing money laundering charges involving RM4.3 billion of 1MDB monies.

While the trial for these charges are ongoing, Najib was found guilty by the High Court on July 28, 2020 of abusing his power in relation to the approval of RM4 billion worth of loans from the Retirement Fund Inc (KWAP) to SRC International Sdn Bhd, a former subsidiary of 1MDB.

He was also convicted of three counts each of criminal breach of trust and money laundering involving RM42 million of SRC funds that went into his personal bank accounts between Dec 26, 2014 and Feb 10, 2015.

While Jho Low is a wanted fugitive — with an Interpol red notice against him — he has a fundamental right under the law to be defended and can still appoint a lawyer to represent him, lawyer Haniff Khatri Abdulla told The Edge.

“Any lawyer who appears for a suspect, whether the suspect is in the country or overseas, can represent the suspect. Even though the person is hounded and not here, a lawyer here can represent him ‘in absentia’,” he said.

Haniff also said the lawyer is not obliged to tell the authorities of the whereabouts of his clients, even if he knows it.

“The only way a lawyer is compelled to divulge to the authorities the location of a suspect is if there is information that the suspect will commit a further crime. Otherwise, whatever issues are subject to privilege,” said Haniff.

However, as far as Jho Low having a discussion to bargain with the government for the settlement of his legal suit, there is nothing wrong with that, Haniff said.

“It is clear that Jho Low wants to go to the US to settle his cases there and move on. To do that, he has to clear the red notice to travel. To clear the red notice, he has to speak to the Malaysian Government. There's nothing sinister about the Government discussing the issue with him,” he said.

Earlier this month, Messrs Valen & Oh — the law firm representing Jho Low and his father Larry Low Hock Peng in the US$3.78 billion lawsuit filed by 1MDB and its four subsidiaries against them — discharged itself from representing the duo.

High Court Judge Hayatul Akmal Abdul Aziz allowed Messrs Valen & Oh's application following an affidavit in support submitted by by the law firm, which claimed that it could not get instructions from US-based Kobre & Kim.

Besides Jho Low and his father, the lawsuit filed in May last year also named Jho Low's mother Puan Sri Goh Gaik Ewe, his brother Taek Szen, his sister May Lin, and his right hand man Eric Tan Kim Loong, as defendants.

The wealth fund originally sought to claim only US$1.4 billion from Jho Low, Larry Low, May Lin and Tan. Its claim was amended two months later to include Goh and Taek Szen for a revised total claim of US$3.78 billion against the six defendants.

Besides seeking the return of the funds, 1MDB and its subsidiaries are also seeking damages to be assessed by the court. Of the US$3.78 billion being claimed by 1MDB, more than US$2.3 billion is said to have been received by Tan, US$3.5 million by May Lin and US$27.5 million by Taek Szen; there is also US$1.695 million worth of jewellery that is said to have gone to Goh.

In the mean time, a Mareva injunction or asset freeze order has been issued against Jho Low and his father to bar them from transferring or dissipating US$1.432 billion in Malaysia or elsewhere.

Last year, Jho Low's mother managed to keep an RM15 million bungalow under her name, together with a sum of money kept in three bank accounts, which the Malaysian government had tried to take control of through a forfeiture proceeding.

In giving the grounds for his decision, Justice Mohamed Zaini Mazlan said the prosecution did not provide any evidence on how the assets were related to the commission of unlawful activities. He said the government had merely shown that the monies were credited into the bank accounts, but did not provide any evidence as to how these bank accounts were related to or used for the commission of unlawful activities.

Besides this US$3.78 billion civil suit, Jho Low is facing criminal charges for his role in the 1MDB saga. He was slapped with eight charges in absentia in 2018 under Section 4(1)(a) of the Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing Act, 2001 (Act 613). Three of the charges were for receiving 1MDB funds, while five were for transferring 1MDB funds.

Low was later additionally charged with five more counts of money laundering involving transfers totalling US$1.03 billion into a Swiss Bank account between Sept 30, 2009 and October 25, 2011, and two other money laundering charges for receiving US$126 million in a Singapore-based bank account.

In the US, Low has been charged in New York for conspiring to launder billions of dollars embezzled from 1MDB and for conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by paying bribes to various Malaysian and Emirati officials. He was also separately charged in the District of Columbia for conspiring to make and conceal foreign and conduit campaign contributions during the United States' presidential election in 2012.

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has alleged that as much as US$4.5 billion were misappropriated from 1MDB between 2009 and 2014 by Jho Low and his co-conspirators, which included officials from Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi.

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