Malaysia asks Interpol to trace 1MDB-linked financier Jho Low

[KUALA LUMPUR] Malaysia said it's seeking Interpol's assistance in locating financier Low Taek Jho, a central figure in global investigations linked to a troubled state investment fund.

Police have yet to receive any detailed information on Low's whereabouts, Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said in Parliament on Monday.

He was responding to a query on whether authorities would ask Interpol to help determine Low's location and seek their cooperation in arresting and repatriating him to assist in investigations in Malaysia.

1Malaysia Development Bhd is at the heart of a number of foreign probes from the US to Switzerland, focused on possible embezzlement or money laundering at the fund set up by Prime Minister Najib Razak in 2009.

At home, investigations into 1MDB have been largely completed without criminal charges laid.

The fund has said its monies are accounted for."Malaysia is confident that the actions by several parties at the international level, especially intelligence agencies, have concluded," Mr Zahid said, without specifying the probes he was referring to.

"And we are confident that the case is no longer relevant, and is only brought up by politicians who are not satisfied about it."

He didn't say when Malaysia had sought Interpol's help in seeking Low.

Low's representative in the US didn't immediately reply to an emailed request for comment, while Jynwel Capital, his company in Hong Kong, didn't respond to calls and an email.

Interpol also didn't reply to an email seeking comment.

Low has previously described his role with the fund as informal consulting that didn't break any laws.

Despite Mr Zahid's comments, court filings indicate the US is escalating its probe to track how much of the money that was raised by 1MDB was used to pay for luxury real estate in New York, London and Beverly Hills, film productions, private jets, yachts and more.

The Justice Department in August asked a judge to put on hold a dozen-plus civil forfeiture lawsuits seeking more than US$1 billion in assets in the US, the UK and Switzerland while it conducts a criminal investigation.

The targeted assets included those acquired by Low.

The fund has consistently denied any misconduct.

Mr Najib, who until last year was the chairman of 1MDB's advisory board, has denied any wrongdoing and was cleared by Malaysia's attorney general.

The opposition has used 1MDB as a rallying point to weaken Mr Najib's government in recent years and the premier has distanced himself from the fund as the country moves closer to elections that must be held by August 2018.

Attempts to link Low to recent guilty pleas in 1MDB-related probes in Singapore are based on "unfounded assumptions", after prosecutors in the city state said he used money traceable to the state fund for his own benefit, a representative for the financier said in July.

Malaysian authorities had stated that there has been no evidence of any misappropriation of 1MDB funds, and no wrongdoing has been proved in any jurisdiction relating to the alleged misappropriation of 1MDB funds, Low's representative added.

BLOOMBERG