Jho Low: Pakatan’s sale price for Equanimity too low

PETALING JAYA: Fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho has hit out at the Pakatan Harapan administration over the sale of Equanimity, saying that its sale price was too low.

Low, also known as Jho Low, claimed that the government had not kept to the rule of law in selling off the super yacht and that it had not gotten the best possible sale price for the vessel.

“The bargain-basement sale price accepted by the Mahathir government for the yacht Equanimity is the final chapter in yet another tale of the regime’s incompetence and disregard for the rule of law.

“It took the Mahathir government twice as long as they promised to sell the yacht, the auction flopped and the ‘transparent’ sales process the Mahathir government committed to at the outset has been subject to multiple abrupt changes – largely forced on the government through their own incompetence.

“The Mahathir government has shown that they are prepared to trash the value of the Equanimity in a misguided attack on their political opponents,” he said in a statement issued yesterday by his spokesman, co-CEO of Wells Haslem Mayhew Strategic Public Affairs, Benjamin Haslem.

Jho Low was also critical of the Pakatan administration for allegedly having forcefully taken the vessel from Indonesia and docking it in an unsuitable environment, which contributed to the devaluation of the yacht.

“Let us be clear, had the Mahathir government not illegally seized the Equanimity from Indonesia and docked it in a hazardous environment at Port Klang, the vessel would have maintained its value and avoided a fire sale.

“Proceeds from the sale have been further eroded by expenditure on the vessel’s upkeep – reportedly some US$3.5mil (RM14.3mil).

“This is a failed PR stunt, which arrogantly ignored court rulings in Indonesia as well as established legal proceedings in the US,” he claimed.

The Equanimity, formerly owned by Jho Low, was purchased using funds allegedly stolen from 1Malaysia Development Bhd.