FUGITIVE businessman Low Taek Jho has slammed a news report alleging China offered to bail out 1MDB as being part of a “politically motivated” campaign to smear his name.
“The Wall Street Journal’s latest story is simply a continuation of the Mahathir regime’s trial by media,” Low, commonly known as Jho Low, said in a statement issued by his legal advisers today.
In a report today, the WSJ claimed that China offered to bail out 1Malaysia Development Bhd in exchange for construction deals under the economic superpower’s Belt and Road Initiative. The report cited the minutes of a series of previously undisclosed government meetings in 2016.
“Extraordinary and serious claims require extraordinary evidence and the Mahathir regime has failed to provide any legitimate evidence to support these politically motivated accusations,” Low said today.
Low said it was the journalistic responsibility of WSJ to have approached such claims with scepticism and suspicion, but said it was “unfortunate that these baseless political accusations are passed off as legitimate reporting.”
“The article is a selection of half-truths, mixed in with fiction, to create a misleading and oversimplified narrative that has been peddled by a morally bankrupt Mahathir regime to advance its failing political cause,” said Low, who is believed to be in China.
Among the projects allegedly awarded to Chinese firms as part of the bailout deal was the construction of two gas pipelines, for which the Najib administration signed a US$2.3 billion (RM9.3 billion) loan from the Export-Import Bank of China.
Another such project was the RM95 billion East Coast Railway Link (ECRL), undertaken by the China Communications Construction Co Ltd.
The ECRL and gas pipelines are among the projects under review following Pakatan Harapan’s win at the general election last May.
Some of the infrastructure projects were financed at above their market value to enable Najib and BN to use the excess cash for other needs, said WSJ.
The PH government believes the funds were used to finance the elections last year and to cover 1MDB’s debts.
Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng, when asked to comment on the WSJ report, said the government was unaware of the revelations but would pursue the matter.
– https://www.themalaysianinsight.com
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