Malaysia should express concern over Jho Low pardon bid, says Gobind

Senior lawmaker Gobind Singh Deo says Malaysia must never allow the architects of the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) crime and those involved in enabling it, "to walk free, bypassing the doors of justice."

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia should express its concern over a bid by fugitive Low Taek Jho (image), better known as Jho Low, for a pardon in respect of offences he committed in the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) saga.

National DAP chairman and Digital Minister, Gobind Singh Deo, was responding to reports that Low had applied for a presidential pardon in the US.

Low is allegedly a well-connected Malaysian financier who helped set up the 1MDB state investment fund and made key financial decisions. He has since “disappeared”, although recent claims suggest that he was in Malaysia late last year for secret meetings.

Inspector-General of Police, Datuk Seri Mohd Khalid Ismail, said police had yet to verify the claims.

“While I accept and agree with the Prime Minister (Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim) that this is a matter for the US and not us to decide, it is nevertheless essential, to my mind, that our position that all those involved and responsible in cases around the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal must face action without exception, be made clear,” Gobind said in a statement today.

“Malaysia has suffered immense, multi-generational losses because of the 1MDB scandal. This was a heist of national proportions that robbed our people of their wealth and our country of its reputation. It took an entire nation to remove the government in 2018 to bring those responsible for it to justice.

“We cannot, and must never allow the architects of this crime and those involved in enabling it, to walk free, bypassing the doors of justice,” he said.

Anwar was reported as saying on Friday: “As far as we are concerned, we are not going in that route” when asked if the government will formally oppose Jho Low’s plea.

Gobind added that Malaysian courts, in the 1MDB trial which spanned several years, expressed the severity of the matter in the clearest of terms.

“In his judgment, and in dealing with a defence that Jho Low was the mastermind of the entire scheme, Justice Collin Sequerah said evidence indicated the accused in that case had an ‘unmistakable bond and connection’ with Jho Low, who served as the then prime minister’s ‘proxy and intermediary’ in 1MDB affairs.

“This is a case which captured global attention as it involved transactions that extended beyond our country. It took multi-layer, cross-border investigations to piece the entire case together. It is for this reason that action against Jho Low in the US must be looked at as an integral part of the whole process which has now led to billions in losses, which will have to be funded by us Malaysians for years to come.”

Gobind added that those responsible for the conspiracy must be brought to justice for crimes committed in connection with it, whether in Malaysia or anywhere else in the world where criminal events took place.

“And Malaysia must be clear and consistent about this. It is for that reason that we must also continue to demand that Jho Low be returned to face the charges against him here in Malaysia.

“I will raise this matter in Cabinet on Wednesday (May 20) so that it can be discussed in detail, with the hope that a decision will be taken as to what needs to be done next in this matter moving ahead,” he added.