Jho Low drops claims to New York's Park Lane Hotel to facilitate sale

Fugitive Malaysian financier Jho Low has agreed to withdraw claims to the luxury Park Lane Hotel in New York to facilitate its sale to Abu Dhabi state fund Mubadala, as part of a US forfeiture lawsuit. 

A spokesperson for Low stated that the decision to withdraw his claim came upon "lengthy and successful negotiations endorsed by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and Abu Dhabi government-owned Mubadala Development Company". 

"...Claimants in the civil proceedings relating to the Park Lane Hotel in New York will seek to withdraw their claims to the property, thereby paving the way for the expeditious sale of the hotel to Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala and other investors. 

"Low is in agreement with the prospective actions of the parties to this proceeding, which will serve as an important step towards ensuring the value of the property is maintained through immediate sale," the spokesperson said in a statement sent this morning. 

The hotel is one of many assets sought by the DOJ as part of its efforts to reclaim money and assets it claimed were purchased allegedly using money laundered from 1MDB. 

According to a Bloomberg report, the intermediary companies that hold Low’s interest in the hotel had stated in a filing in the Los Angeles federal court yesterday that they will withdraw their claims. 

The spokesperson added that the US authorities and government understood that Low has made no admission of wrongdoing or liability in dropping his claims on Park Lane hotel. 

"Low (photo) looks forward to the continuing cooperation between the owners of these and other assets and the US government in ensuring that the value of such assets is maintained and that the rule of law is properly followed." 

Low, whose full name is Low Taek Jho, reportedly purchased an 85 percent stake in the hotel in 2013 for about US$654 million, while Mubadala later paid Low US$135 million for a stake in it. 

The dropping of the claim comes as Low stated that he had also obtained the DOJ agreement to sell off stakes in several other high-profile assets, including EMI Music and the Jackson estate. 

"This development builds on the momentum of a series of successful agreements negotiated with or endorsed by the US Department of Justice, including a US federal court-approved stipulation in October that allowed for a bidding process to sell a Global 5000 jet aircraft currently located in Singapore, and an agreement entered into that same month to sell an interest in EMI Music Publishing alongside Mubadala, Blackstone’s GSO Capital Partners, David Geffen and the Jackson estate to the Sony Corporation which completed yesterday with payment received," the statement today read. 

Sony's acquisition of Low's EMI stakes closed last Wednesday. 

Before this, Mubadala has sought to acquire Low's stake in the Viceroy Hotel Group last year, in a deal which also required the DOJ's endorsement. 

The Viceroy Group, which had been partially-owned by Mubadala, owns hotels across the world. 

Mubadala, which is United Arab Emirates sovereign wealth fund, was established last year following the merger of International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC) and the Mubadala Development Company.

IPIC has been mired in a dispute with Malaysian troubled sovereign wealth fund 1MDB over payments involving a deal.

Low, meanwhile, is wanted in several countries, including in Malaysia and Singapore, to facilitate probes into the multi-billion 1MDB scandal, which has already seen former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak slapped with multiple criminal charges. 

The DOJ had on Oct 30 charged Penang-born Low, in absentia, with conspiring to launder billions of dollars from the 1MDB and conspiring to violate the American Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). 

Also indicted on multiple charges were former Goldman Sachs bankers Tim Leissner and Roger Ng.

Low, however, has continued to maintain his innocence. - Mkini