Former attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali has broken his silence over his involvement in fugitive businessperson Low Taek Jho’s settlement offers to the government.
Apandi (above) clarified that he had arranged the meetings between Washington-based law firm Kobre & Kim, believed to be representing Low, and Attorney-General Idrus Harun at the end of May this year.
“I was approached by Kobre & Kim from Washington DC, seeking my assistance to arrange for a meeting with the attorney-general of Malaysia, at the end of May 2022.
“I arranged a series of meetings, whereby representatives from Kobre & Kim came to Malaysia,” he said in a statement today.
Apandi said the series of meetings took place at the Attorney-General’s Chambers and was attended by Idrus, his officer and a MACC official.
“The purpose of the meetings was to discuss the repatriation of monies allegedly siphoned by Low from 1MDB,” he said.
Despite the meetings looking “positive”, he said, they were eventually called off by the AGC.
“After the said meetings, which at that material time looked positive, they were aborted and called off by the AGC suddenly, for reasons best known to them,” he said.
The AGC today confirmed that Low had attempted to reach a settlement with the government over the charges against him, however, all settlement offers were rejected.
The Edge reported yesterday that Low, 40, also known as Jho Low, allegedly offered RM1.5 billion to the government.
The report also claimed that Apandi was representing Low in the negotiations.
1MDB scandal mastermind
Low is the alleged mastermind behind the 1MDB scandal and has been charged in absentia in US and Malaysian courts.
He is currently at large and his whereabouts are not publicly known despite police efforts to track him down and extradite him. It is believed that he is in China.
In 2018, the US Department of Justice charged Low with conspiracy to launder billions of dollars from the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund, and conspiracy to violate the American Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
In Malaysia, he and his associates are facing five money-laundering charges amounting to US$1.03 billion.
He also faces a separate charge money-laundering charge with his aide Eric Tan Kim Loong for US$125.97 million.
In 2020, the MACC brought another charge against Low and his associates, this time allegedly engaging in a criminal conspiracy to enable former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak to use his position to receive a bribe totalling RM60,629,839.43.
Low repeatedly claimed he was innocent and said in a 2020 interview that he was merely an intermediary in 1MDB’s dealings. - Mkini
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