The Edge asks Jho Low the obvious questions The Straits Times of Singapore did not ask
KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 6): In his first interview with the media since fleeing Malaysia in 2015, Penang-born fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho, better known Jho Low, repeated that he is a scapegoat for the alleged fraud of 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), according to reports from ST published today.
The Edge, referring to the emailed interview Low gave to The Straits Times (ST) of Singapore, published an article asking him to answer the following questions:
1. If you are innocent, why did you give up US$1.0 billion worth of assets to settle with the US Department of Justice (DoJ)? We are not talking about US$10 million or even US$100 million. This is US$1.0 billion! Who in his right mind would give this up if he is innocent? And didn't you tell your favourite newspaper ST that in the US "the rule of law is respected and where people are considered innocent until proven guilty"? So, if you are innocent, why don't you fight it out in a US court where you say justice can prevail?
(Low's interview with ST did not address the role he played in 1MDB scandal. He had said the recent agreement with the US Department of Justice to forfeit US$1.0 billion worth of assets to settle its civil case against him was a “hugely positive development”.)
2. If the money did not come from 1MDB as you claimed, what was the source of money you used to acquire these US$1.0 billion worth of assets that you are giving up? If it is from money your grandfather built up, as you have previously claimed, we refer you back to our first question. Why did you so readily give up what your grandfather built to settle with the DoJ if you are innocent?
3. Who is the principal if you are the intermediary? You claim that you were only an intermediary. An intermediary to a crime is also a criminal, your lawyers should be able to tell you that. We assume your principal was Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who, by the way, now pins all the blame on you, going by the defence he is putting up in court. Najib alleges that you were the principal. You claim you are just the intermediary. Are you accusing Najib of lying?
Anyway, we say you were joint principals and were each other's alter ego throughout the years the scheme to scam 1MDB was in play.
(Low had portrayed himself as a middleman who worked for the Malaysian government in dealings with with key allies but did not disclose the identity of his principal.)
4. Where are you now? You say you can't disclose where you are for safety reasons. Yet, you got ST to say you are likely in the United Arab Emirates. We say this is simply a red herring to divert attention from where you are — China.
Stop the nonsensical spin you are doing with help from your friends in The Singapore ST. No one believes it anyway. Come back to your country of birth to defend yourself. Don't run and hide. Only cowards and the guilty do that.
(ST said it believed that Low was in a “country in Europe”. Low claimed to have been offered asylum by an unnamed nation but refused to disclose his current location out of “serious personal safety concerns”. He had suggested that he may return to Malaysia to face the law "when the political climate in Malaysia is such that I feel safe enough to return home".)
Meanwhile, Wall Street Journal journalist and Billion Dollar Whale co-author Tom Wright blasted Low’s interview with ST as “pointless”. He also refuted Low’s claim that he is in Europe.
“Jho Low gives pointless interview to Straits Times without answering multiple charges against him by US and Malaysian authorities. He’s still on the run in China,” said Wright on Twitter.
Wright, together with Bradley Hope, wrote the best-selling Billion Dollar Whale which is about how Low allegedly masterminded the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal.
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