By Khairul Khalid
Dr Mahathir Mohamad
Former Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has slammed Jho Low’s links with 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), as well as his close relationship with Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.
“Who is Jho Low and why is he so trusted by Najib?” said Mahathir, who is popularly known as Dr M.
“The allegations of embezzlement of billions of 1MDB’s funds by Jho Low have been supported by clear evidence. These allegations have not been answered at all, other than by claiming that they are lies,” said Mahathir.
In a posting in his blog today, Mahathir pulled no punches in his criticism of the Najib administration, including Jho Low’s (whose real name is Taek Jho Low) alleged involvement in the controversial strategic fund 1MDB, a company wholly owned by the Finance Ministry (MoF).
Najib Abdul Razak
“Jho Low was reported in the New York Times, London Times and Sarawak Report to be involved in the management of billions of 1MDB funds. These reports have shamed Malaysia,” said Mahathir.
Recently online news portal Sarawak Report published articles based on what it says are documents and email correspondence between Jho Low and his associates, and representatives of Petrosaudi (PSI) and 1MDB.
Petrosaudi was one of the first companies that 1MDB did business with. Sarawak Report alleges that Jho Low played an active role in 1MDB’s negotiations.
1MDB has so far not commented on either the Sarawak Report articles nor disputed the veracity of the documents. Petrosaudi however, has lodged a report with the Scotland Yard alleging Sarawak Report hacked their website for the materials.
Jho Low
Jho Low has since denied these allegations and maintains that he was only informally consulted for his views about 1MDB and was neither hired by 1MDB or paid a salary by them or any other government entity.
“I feel like I am a victim of the crossfire in Malaysian politics which is getting more polarised. I am a target,” said Jho Low recently in an interview with Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post.
Nevertheless, in his blog posting, Mahathir said that Jho Low is not a trustworthy person.
“Pictures of Jho Low and his behaviour, his young age as well as his lifestyle do not reflect a character that can be trusted by the public.
He reportedly purchased multimillion dollar homes in New York and Hollywood, and subsequently sold them to Najib’s stepson Riza Aziz for equally huge sums of money,” said Mahathir. Jho Low has admitted to being close friends with Riza, who is now a Hollywood film producer.
1MDB’s total debt as at March 31, 2014 stood at RM41.9 billion. It recently had seek out a RM2 billion loan from tycoon Ananda Krishnan to settle an outstanding RM2 billion interest payment with local banks.
Ananda Krishnan
“1MDB is supposed to have RM52 billion in assets but is in debt of RM42 billion. Assets won’t turn to profits before it is liquidated. Why did it have to get a loan from Ananda Krishnan to pay interest payments? If 1MDB is not losing money, why does it have to be in debt? Why did the government give RM1 billion to 1MDB after the (RM2 billion interest) debts were settled?” said Mahathir.
The former prime minister also questioned why 1MDB’s funds repatriated from Cayman Islands is now being parked in Singapore, instead of being brought back into the country.
“The money in Cayman Island was supposed to be repatriated but half is being kept in Swiss Bank (BSI) in Singapore. Where did the other half of the RM6 billion go? Why wasn’t this used to pay the RM2 billion interest?” said Mahathir.
The former prime minister said that questions about 1MDB have never been adequately answered other than saying that they have large assets.
“The question of land acquisition price has not been adequately explained. Of course, if the land is bought cheaply and valuation increases many times, these assets become big. But as a matter of fact, the government loses out big time when its own land is being sold at a price that is not reflective of market valuation,” said Mahathir.
He also wondered why US$700 million was paid to Petro Saudi and whether it was proven that Petrosaudi owned an oil and gas concession in Argentina and Turkmenistan before 1MDB paid that sum of money.
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