DoJ investigating Jho Low’s payments to legal team
NEW YORK: Investigations into the financial dealings of fugitive financier Low Taek Jho, better known as Jho Low, have intensified in the United States, with the Department of Justice (DoJ) extending its probe to determine whether he laundered huge sums of money amounting to tens of millions of dollars through two associates, and used those funds to pay a US legal team.
The team included former New Jersey governor Chris Christie and a lawyer who has been representing US President Donald Trump.
This is the latest development reported by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on Wednesday in the ongoing saga of the 37-year-old billionaire’s involvement in the alleged embezzlement of a whopping US$4.5 billion (RM18.5 billion) from the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) fund.
The WSJ said Malaysian authorities last week levelled separate money-laundering charges against Low in the 1MDB case which, it is reported, may be one of the biggest financial frauds in history, warranting a global corruption probe.
Low has reportedly been moving around in recent months in the Greater China region, shifting between Hong Kong, Macau and mainland China.
Last year and in July 2016, the DoJ filed civil lawsuits at the California federal court seeking to recover assets from Low and others. The assets include mansions, artworks and a yacht allegedly purchased with 1MDB funds. Low, who has US assets, is now said to be the subject of an international criminal investigation.
Since 2016, the fugitive’s access to the global financial system has been severely restricted by banks, according to people familiar with the matter, the daily reported without attributing the information to any named source.
But the paper said there was no indication that any of the people receiving payments were aware that the funds could have originated from the money which Low allegedly siphoned from 1MDB.
The DoJ is also investigating Low’s potential use of two intermediaries to facilitate payments through the international financial system, though the DoJ declined to comment.
Christie, one of the lawyers and consultants working for Low, headed Trump’s presidential transition team.
Others in the team were Marc Kasowitz, Trump’s lawyer, Bobby Burchfield, who served as the Trump Organisation’s outside ethics adviser, and Ed Rogers, a Washington lobbyist with close ties to the Republican Party.
Christie has been representing Low in the cases involving forfeiture of the latter’s assets in California, the WSJ quotes a Christie spokesman, who denied there was any communication by Christie with any government office on Low’s behalf.
Neither had there been any enquiry addressed to him (Christie) by the DoJ with regard to any other investigation involving funding or otherwise.
A spokesman for Kasowitz Benson Torres, the New York law firm with which Kasowitz is associated, confirmed to the WSJ that the firm represented Low in DoJ matters.
Burchfield said in an emailed statement to the paper that Low retained his Atlanta-based firm, King & Spalding, to “advise him on the ongoing investigations”. adding that the law firm “performed appropriate due diligence on sources of payment”.
“Neither I nor King & Spalding has had contact with any governmental entity, directly or indirectly, on behalf of Mr Low, nor has King & Spalding received any enquiry from the DoJ regarding this engagement.”
The paper reported that the DoJ was investigating whether a Thai businessman, Phengphian Laogumnerd, and former American rap artiste, Pras Michel, a founding member of the Fugees hip-hop group, played any role in helping Low make payments, people familiar with the matter said.
The paper further reported that for at least a year, these people said Low had relied on Phengphian to pay accommodation expenses in Hong Kong and Macau, legal and advisory bills and to keep Low’s US$250-million yacht Equanimity fully-staffed and maintained until it was seized by Indonesian authorities.
DoJ investigators are examining records and money flows related to a series of companies controlled by Phengphian in Hong Kong and in offshore havens, such as the British Virgin Islands, to determine whether Low’s money was involved, the paper said.