FBI agent: Jho Low directed Equanimity captain via WeChat

Businessperson Low Taek Jho issued instructions to the captain of the Equanimity through mobile messaging application WeChat, according to US Federal Bureau of Investigation special agent Justin McNair.

McNair said this in his filing to the US District Court for the Central District of California, in support of a US government motion to gain custody of the Equanimity.

The US government is seeking custody of the Equanimity in order to proceed with the sale of the vessel on their shores, as part of a forfeiture action on assets allegedly acquired using 1MDB-linked funds.

In a US Department of Justice court filing sighted by Malaysiakini, McNair had executed the seizure process by boarding the Equanimity in Indonesia on March 9, and taped a copy of the warrant on a table in the bridge of the yacht.

According to McNair, Low, upon learning of the US attempts to seize the Equanimity, had directed the ship's captain to "hide" the vessel.

"One of Low's directives was to turn off the Equanimity's automatic identification system (AIS) as soon as news broke about this action.

"While vessels may sometimes turn off their AIS to 'hide' themselves when they are in high-risk territories with serious pirate concerns, the Equanimity was not in a high-risk territory when it turned off its AIS right after news broke about this action," he said.

Dodging 'major problems'

McNair said that Low had also directed the Equanimity captain to avoid the territorial waters of certain jurisdictions, including Australia, Singapore and the US.

"(This directive was issued) on grounds that entering these jurisdictions could case 'major problems'.

"The captain was told to instead keep the Equanimity in other jurisdictions, like Vietnam and Cambodia, that were deemed 'safe'.

"Low's directives were complied with. For example, the Equanimity's AIS was indeed shut off right after news broke of this forfeiture action, and the Equanimity did indeed avoid the jurisdictions that Low told the captain to avoid," he said.

According to the DOJ court filing, either the Equanimity crew or Low had "miscalculated in Indonesia," where it was seized by the country’s authorities on the request of the US government.

The DOJ also reasserted that Low acquired the US$250 million yacht with funds allegedly misappropriated from 1MDB. -Mkini