THIEVES FIGHT – NAJIB VS JHO LOW BEGINS: WHY DID NAJIB’S LAWYER SUDDENLY SAY 1MDB-LINKED SECRETARY IS JHO LOW’S AUNT WHEN SHE’S NOT? JHO LOW RAPS NAJIB’S COUNSEL FOR ‘FALSE’ CLAIMS – WHILE GUAN ENG CONFIRMS MOF PROBING THE MATTER, TO RELEASE STATEMENT SOON

FUGITIVE financier Low Taek Jho, better known as Jho Low, has denied that former TRX City Sdn Bhd company secretary Goh Gaik Kim is his aunt.

In a statement issued by public relations firm Wells Haslem Mayhew Strategic Public Affairs, Low denied allegations raised by lawyers during the SRC International proceedings that he was related to Goh.

“Such claims are demonstrably false,”   co-CEO Benjamin Haslem said in a statement today.

“There is no family relationship between Mr Low or any of his family members with the above-mentioned Goh Gaik Kim. It is disappointing that counsel has endeavoured to falsely implicate Mr Low’s family.

“It is also disappointing that the media has reported such allegations as true, quoting unnamed sources rather than checking directly,” the statement said, urging the media to update their articles, and “cease the false implication of his family”.

During cross-examination at Najib Razak’s SRC International trial last Tuesday, defence counsel Harvinderjit Singh asked a witness whether he was aware that one of 1MDB’s company secretaries, Goh Gaik Kim, is the sister of Low’s mother, Goh Gaik Ewe.

Former SRC International chairman Ismee Ismail had told the court that he was not aware of the relationship between Gaik Kim and Gaik Ewe back then.

TRX City’s management confirmed that she is still its secretary, but claimed to have no knowledge of her being Low’s aunt, The Edge reported today.

TRX City is a former subsidiary of 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), known as 1MDB Real Estate Sdn Bhd. It is currently owned by the Minister of Finance Inc.

“Honestly, I don’t know. I don’t know if she is Jho Low’s aunt,” the senior management personnel was quoted as saying.

The Edge said Gaik Kim had been the company secretary of TRX City since the end of March 2011, and had also been appointed company secretary of TRX City’s then parent company, 1MDB.

The Edge said she was likely no longer part of 1MDB in early April 2016, when she was replaced by Chen Kai Hong as company secretarY.

– https://www.themalaysianinsight.com

Guan Eng: Goh Gaik Kim says she’s not Jho Low’s aunt

The company secretary of TRX City Sdn Bhd, Goh Gaik Kim is not the aunt of fugitive businessperson Low Taek Jho or Jho Low, says the Finance Ministry.

Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng (above) said Gaik Kim has denied that she is Jho Low’s aunt and that he is her nephew.

“However, we are still investigating the matter. We will issue an official statement on the matter once our probe is completed,” he told Malaysiakini when contacted.

A report in The Edge today intrigued the nation when it alleged that Gaik Kim, who has been holding the post of company secretary at TRX City since end-March 2011, was Jho Low’s aunt.

It was also reported that Gaik Kim is purportedly the younger sister of Low’s mother, Evelyn Goh Gaik Ewe.

Penang-born Jho Low and his parents, Low Hock Peng and Evelyn Goh, are wanted by police to assist in the probe of sovereign-wealth fund 1MDB.

Quoting sources, the report said that Gaik Kim was also the company secretary to the TRX City’s parent company, 1MDB, but the financial newspaper indicated that Gaik Kim (below) had likely left 1MDB in early April 2016.

Gaik Kim may not have been involved in the 1MDB scandal, but questions of conflict of interest arise as Jho Low and his parents are wanted by police.

She is said to have over 20 years of experience as a company secretary, but her alleged links as relatives of Jho Low are in question as company secretaries have access to major decisions of a company.

Malaysiakini is trying to contact Gaik Kim for comments.

1MDB has been under seige since the last general election last May as investigations have revealed that an alleged US$681 million (RM2.6 billion) from the US$3 billion funds were transferred to an account belonging to former premier Najib Abdul Razak.

The US$3 billion, underwritten by Goldman Sachs as 10-year bond in 2013, was meant for the development of Tun Razak Exchange, but it was reportedly swindled.

Najib is currently facing trial over the controversy surrounding the RM2.6 billion donation, purportedly received from the late Saudi monarch, King Abdullah Abdulaziz Al Saud.

He had claimed that the unused portion of the money, amounting to US$620 million, was returned to the Saudis.

– M’kini