Come back and help with 1MDB probe, Jho Low's childhood friend urges

A childhood friend of wanted 1MDB-linked businessperson Jho Low has urged him to return and assist with investigations into the firm.

PKR Kebun Bunga assemblyperson Jason Ong Khan Lee claims to have been Low's neighbour when they were children, but that he had not seen him since 2013.

“He was my neighbour living in Pulau Tikus area. My parents also know his parents personally and we used to play and hang out together in the older days.

“As a friend and a lawyer, I would advise him to come back.

"The Interpol has been alerted on the case. If Low is put under the no-fly list it is even harder for him to escape from the probe. So it is better if he could come back to assist in the investigation and see what the outcome is,” Ong was quoted as saying by The Star.

The Penang lawmaker said Low should also hire the best lawyer he could find.

Low is wanted by authorities to assist with investigations into the 1MDB scandal.

The US Department of Justice claims in its suits that the businessperson was involved in multiple instances where 1MDB funds were allegedly misappropriated.

He is accused of having used 1MDB funds to purchase the Equanimity superyacht ; jewellery for model Miranda Kerr; and also a US$27.3 million pink diamond necklace for the wife of Malaysian Official 1 (MO1).

MO1 has been identified as Najib.

Sources had told Malaysiakini that Low reached out to Dr Mahathir Mohamad immediately after he was sworn in as prime minister to offer his assistance on 1MDB-related matters.

This was in addition to Singapore’s revelationyesterday that an Interpol red notice had been issued for Low at its request in October 2016.

An Interpol red notice is a request by a member country to locate and provisionally arrest a person based on a valid national arrest warrant. - Mkini