The Highs of a Low

ARCHIVES 2010

By admin-s On May 31, 2010

Of late, there has been a lot of curiosity about Jho Low. It was with much surprise when I first read about him HERE in The New York Post last November that related how he burned through hundreds of thousands of dollars at the city’s hottest nightspots in the last quarter of 2009 and showed no signs of stopping. That post will shock you wrt the obscene amount allegedly spent.

By Masterwordsmith

Two days later, The New York Post featured another article on him about his 28th birthday in Las Vegas, a four-day affair that started at Caesars Palace, where sources said the swimming pool was stocked with bikini-clad party girls and surrounded by caged lions and tigers.

According to THIS SITE, he rents several apartments in the Park Imperial on West 57th St in midtown that house him and his staff—including several body guards. His famous neighbors include Daniel Craig and Sean Combs. The site said that he travels about town with his entourage in a fleet of Escalades. It said Jamie Foxx gave him a red sports car for a present while Paris Hilton and Usher also attended the party. After his party, Low bought 120 bottles of Cristal for the revelers at a nightclub. His supposed benefactor is Kuwaiti Hamad Alwazzancan. I can imagine how that money could have been used for welfare projects for the poor, needy and the handicapped not forgetting conservation of the environment.

Malaysiakini reported HERE yesterday:

PKR Youth chief Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin, as part of the ‘shocking exposé’ promised yesterday, called on the authorities to investigate one Taek Jho Low, who is reportedly a big spender at various Los Angeles nightspots.

“We hear that this Wharton School of Business graduate is a close friend of the prime minister’s son with links to a ‘Big Mama’,” said Samsul in his opening address at the wing’s annual congress in Kota Bharu this morning.

“We have some information, and we challenge the premier to reveal whether this person is behind the Sungai Besi air force base contract, which will be one of the biggest projects by the BN government this year,” he said, quoting newspaper reports.

He was appointed to the board of UBG Berhad, a financial-services group in Kuala Lumpur, in 2008.

Shamsul later also claimed that Low is an adviser to the Terengganu state investment authority, now known as ‘1Malaysia’ Development Berhad (1MDB).

I surfed the net for more information and came across this official site of 1MDB:

1MDB’s origins can be traced to the 2008 general election, which saw the Umno-led Barisan Nasional (BN, National Front Federal Government) losing its two-thirds majority. The BN lost five states, which had an effect on the position of the menteris besar (chief ministers) of states under BN rule. In Perlis, there was a change in menteri besar said to be due to intervention by royalty.

The same thing happened in Terengganu where the Sultan was unhappy with the then menteri besar Datuk Idris Jusoh. One of the major issues was the utilisation of oil royalty amounting to more than RMI billion per annum by the Umno-Ied state and federal government agencies.

To stop the unaccountable spending of oil royalty, the Sultan, together with a few advisers, came up with the idea for the Terengganu Investment Authority (TIA).

A year after its conceptualisation, TIA was established with the blessings of the state and federal governments in March 2009. It is said that as part of the “settlement” of the unaccounted-for oil royalty, the federal government gave a RMS billion guarantee to kickstart TIA.

One of the key people who had advised the’ King in establishing TIA was Low Taek Jho, a young merchant banker with strong links to the Middle East. Known as Jho Low to his friends, the young man is also said to be well connected and has done a few major corporate deals. His “lavish” lifestyle in New York was the subject of a feature article in the New York Post last month. Jho, the son of Penang businessman Datuk Larry Low – a former shareholder and director of MWE Holdings Bhd – has however denied that it was he who had splurged on a lavish celebration as had been reported.

Coming back to TIA, the idea was to establish the fund along along the lines of Mubadala Development Company, the SWF of Abu Dhabi. In fact, Khaldoon AI-Mubarak, CEO of Mubadala and chairman of Abu Dhabi Executive Affairs Authority, still sits on the board of 1MDB.

The fund size was initially targeted at RM11 billion, comprising RM5 billion from the federal government and another RM6 billion to come from the securitisation of future annual oil royalty that Terengganu gets from Petronas (the national oil corporation).

But after the initial RM5 billion, raised by a federal government guarantee, the troubles at TIA began. The state, led by Menteri Besar Datuk Ahmad Said, wanted control over the utilisation of the money, something that went against the charter of the fund.

The funds were supposed to be managed by a professional team and overseen by a board of directors and advisers. It was a triple-layer structure to ensure the money is well spent.

But the prime movers behind the funds found out early that this was easier said than done. Subsequently, TIA became a federal entity, which gave birth to 1MDB. CLICK HERE for more.

Another article in The Star HERE in January 2010 gives very interesting information. Excerpts from the article: