Jho Low finds new ways to move money through connections in Kuwait - WSJ

Fugitive businessperson Jho Low had travelled to Kuwait, evading international arrest notices issued by authorities in the US and Malaysia who are seeking him for his link to the 1MDB scandal, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported.

According to documents it sighted and people familiar with Low's Kuwaiti connections, WSJ said the businessperson entered the gulf state despite Interpol red notices.

A red notice is an alert to police forces worldwide about wanted fugitives.

Low's Kuwaiti connections had provided him means to fend off US and Malaysian investigators.

In early 2016, Low sought out a son of the prime minister, Sheikh Sabah Al-Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, whom he had met years earlier, and offered to use his contacts in China to steer investments to Kuwait.

This took place as US authorities began to close in and unravel his extravagant jet setting lifestyle in the US.

WSJ quoted French businessperson Bachar Kiwan, then a business partner of the sheikh, who recalled that Low said at a dinner in 2016: "I earned billions in Malaysia. I will earn a hundred billion in China, minimum."

The Kuwaiti ties reportedly brought Low new protectors, new business deals and new channels for moving money.

WSJ said banks in Kuwait handled hundreds of millions of dollars tied to Low’s activities, including millions in payments to companies in the US and the UK to cover his mounting legal bills.

It added that Malaysian investigators linked a money trail from China to a Chinese bank in Kuwait and onward to a Cayman Islands entity partly controlled by Low that then paid nearly US$1 billion for Low-controlled assets in Malaysia to pay some 1MDB debts.

In order to evade the attention of US authorities, the transactions were conducted in Chinese Yuan.

A spokesperson for Sheikh Sabah said he “categorically denies any wrongdoing”, and that the allegations about Low and the sheikh were false.

The spokesperson claimed that the allegations originated from Kiwan and his associates who “have been indicted and convicted for forgery, fraud, and criminal breach of trust and other criminal acts against Sheikh Sabah”.

Meanwhile, representatives for Low declined to comment.

Based on documents it sighted, WSJ alleged that Low used Al Waseet, Kiwan's Kuwait-based media firm, to move 1.4 billion yuan (US$200 million).

Neither the Kuwaiti or Malaysian governments have responded to WSJ's requests for comment and the US Justice Department declined to comment on Low’s activities in Kuwait.

Kiwan was convicted in absentia in Kuwait of forgery and document falsification. He denied all the charges.

Inspector-general of police Abdul Hamid Bador had repeatedly said police were aware of Low's whereabouts but stopped short of naming the place.

He claimed that Low is hiding “like a chicken” in a certain country where he is protected by powerful people, and foreign authorities were uncooperative in Malaysia’s bid for Low’s repatriation.

WSJ quoted unnamed Malaysian investigators who said Low spent most of his time in China and was residing at the city of Wuhan as of six months ago.

Malaysiakini is unable to independently verify the WSJ report.

- Mkini