Jho Low found new ways of moving money in Kuwait, says report

“‘I earned billions in Malaysia. I will earn a hundred billion in China, minimum’”

(Focus Malaysia) – Fugitive Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho or Jho Low travelled to Kuwait last September and was able to dodge authorities, despite red notices from international police agency Interpol, The Wall Street Journal reported today, citing documents and people familiar with his Kuwait relations.

Jho Low has arrest notices across multiple jurisdictions especially in the US and Malaysia.

The Kuwait Connection, said WSJ, had provided Jho Low means to fend off US and Malaysian authorities who accused him of masterminding the looting of embattled state investment vehicle 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB). Jho Low has denied wrongdoing.

Jho Low, during his visits to Kuwait in early 2016, sought out a son of the prime minister, Sheikh Sabah Al-Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, whom he had met years earlier, and offered to use his contacts in China to steer investments to Kuwait, WSJ quoted French businessman Bachar Kiwan, who was present at their meetings, as saying.

Bachar, then a partner of the sheikh, boasted of earning “billions” in Malaysia, according to WSJ.

“‘I earned billions in Malaysia. I will earn a hundred billion in China, minimum,’” Bachar recalled Jho Low as saying at a dinner in early 2016 hosted by the Kuwaiti prime minister.

WSJ added that the Kuwaiti ties brought Low new protectors, new business deals and new channels for moving money.