Accused 1MDB mastermind Jho Low proclaims innocence on new website

[KUALA LUMPUR] The man accused of looting billions from Malaysian investment fund 1MDB may be missing from the public eye, but he's not keeping quiet.

Low Taek Jho, wanted in Malaysia and Singapore and described by US prosecutors as orchestrating the theft of US$4.5 billion from 1MDB, is proclaiming his innocence on his website launched on Monday.

"With hindsight I may have done things differently, like any young person, but any mistakes I made do not amount to the sweepingly broad and destructive allegations being made against me," Low, 36, said in a signed letter on the site.

"Let me be clear: I am innocent."

Low, whose whereabouts are unknown, is described as a "global philanthropist, investor and entrepreneur" on the website.

He's been charged in absentia in Malaysia with money laundering and Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has called on Low to return to help with the probe.

"I have been paraded in effigy through the streets of Kuala Lumpur and photographs from my younger days plastered in tabloids across the globe," Low wrote.

"I only ask that everyone - courts, prosecutors and the general public - keep an open mind until all of the evidence comes to light."

BLOOMBERG