Malaysia is negotiating with other countries to expedite fugitive financier Low Taek Jho’s return to the South-east Asian nation, so he may face criminal charges for his role in the 1MDB scandal.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said on Friday (May 5) other nations were cooperating with Malaysia’s efforts to track Low, a process he described as complicated. 

“It involves other countries, it involves intelligence services, Interpol,” Anwar told reporters after attending an event in Kuala Lumpur. He didn’t reveal the countries involved in the talks, nor confirmed Low’s whereabouts.

Better known as Jho Low, the businessman was first charged in absentia in 2018 by a Malaysian court with eight counts of money laundering and issued a warrant of arrest. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has accused Low of stealing US$1.42 billion from three bond transactions that Goldman Sachs Group arranged for the Malaysian wealth fund. 

A separate Malaysian court in 2020 said Low played a crucial role in transferring RM42 million (S$12.5 million) from a former 1MDB unit to ex-prime minister Najib Razak’s accounts. Najib is now serving a 12-year prison sentence for his crimes related to 1MDB, and faces several other trials.

Anwar on Friday reiterated his government’s commitment to bring back Low. “That has been the position and we have been very tough from day one,” he said.

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In 2020, the financier had struck a deal with US prosecutors to recoup almost US$700 million worth of assets, including a Beverly Hills hotel and real estate in New York and London. That’s in addition to US$260 million of assets, including a US$126 million super yacht, seized earlier on Malaysia’s behalf. BLOOMBERG