Penang-born billionaire Low Taek Jho, better known as Jho Low, continues to remain elusive even though yet another country has expressed interest in questioning him over the 1MDB matter.
The Centre to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4) noted the latest was Singapore's Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) which testified in a Singapore court that Jho Low was a "person of interest".
Jho Low has also been named by the US Department of Justice as a partial beneficiary of around US$3.5 billion it believed was misappropriated from 1MDB and laundered through the US financial system.
"However, to date, Jho Low has yet to be arrested by the local authorities or international police," said C4 executive director Cynthia Gabriel and programme officer Tarmizi Anuwar.
They questioned if the Malaysian police had sought help from Interpol to arrest Jho Low.
"If there are no such efforts by the Malaysian police, it would appear as though they they are shielding him from the law," they said in a joint statement.
On Thursday, a CAD investigating officer expressed interest in Jho Low during the trial of former BSI banker Yeo Jia Wei, who was accused of aiding in the laundering of 1MDB funds.
The CAD said it was also interested in talking to Jho Low's associate Eric Tan Kim Loong as well as Mohamed Ahmed Badawy Al Husseiny, the former chief executive officer of Aabar Investments PJS.
Mohamed Ahmed was already arrested by Abu Dhabi authorities as part of its investigation into 1MDB which was involved with Abu Dhabi-owned International Petroleum Investment Company.
C4 said despite the progress in Abu Dhabi, US, Singapore and even Switzerland, the 1MDB case did not appear to be moving.
It noted that the latest was Malaysia's rejection of a Mutual Legal Assistance request from Switzerland to assist in the 1MDB investigation.
"It is unreasonable for the Malaysian attorney-general to reject the MLA request from Swtizerland on grounds that the Malaysian police was still investigating 1MDB when there has yet to be any concrete action to date," it said.
C4 also called for the auditor-general's report on 1MDB to be declassified.
Meanwhile, Hisbah Centre for Reform chairperson Mohamad Ezam Md Noor said Singapore's statement that Jho Low was a "person of interest" in money laundering was sufficient enough for Malaysian police to arrest him.
"There is no excuse the police can give as the investigation paper on 1MDB had been opened for a long time.
"To date, we are still waiting for the outcome of that investigation," he said.
In May, Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who is also Home Minister, said Jho Low would only be summoned by police if the need arose.
He also confirmed that as of that time, the police had yet to speak to Jho Low.- Mkini
Why do all of you in the media continue to report that Jho Low is a U.S. Citizen? When you do things like this, it makes all other statements suspect!
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