(Bloomberg) — Fugitive financier Jho Low is fighting the seizure of his mother’s mansion, saying his family has lived in the property since before 1MDB existed.
Low said the purchase and construction of his family home in the Malaysian state of Penang predated the state fund, as his mother Goh Gaik Ewe holds a certificate of occupation dated July 2000. A spokesman for Low, through his U.S. lawyers, provided the occupancy certificate.
Malaysia is seeking to seize the mansion as part of a 680 million ringgit ($162 million) civil forfeiture action. The assets include handbags, cars and cash, which the government alleges were bought using funds siphoned from 1MDB, which was set up in 2009. A local court said on Thursday that the government may invite anyone to submit claims of ownership on the list of seized items, according to Ragunath Kesavan, who represents Low’s mother.
The seizure of the family property was part of the government’s “personal vendetta” against him that has risked his family’s safety, Low said in an open letter on Thursday. The move shows that he would be unable to get a fair trial in Malaysia, he added.
Recouping Funds
He has been painted by U.S. prosecutors as the mastermind behind the scandal surrounding 1MDB, which saw $4.5 billion allegedly misappropriated from the fund, whose full name is 1Malaysia Development Bhd. Low, who remains at large, has also been accused of campaign-finance violations linked to U.S. President Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election effort, on top of several money-laundering charges in Malaysia and the U.S. linked to 1MDB. Low has denied any wrongdoing.
Low’s assets have come under the spotlight as Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad seeks to recoup funds lost through 1MDB as part of an election promise.
The government earned $126 million in April by selling a super yacht once owned by Low. That was followed by the U.S. returning $139 million from the sale of a stake in New York’s Park Lane Hotel, on which Low dropped his claims last year, as well as some $57 million from a settlement paid by the “Wolf of Wall Street” movie producer.
Low’s other assets remain tied up in legal proceedings. The U.S. made an order on his $35 million Bombardier Global 5000 jet parked in Singapore, after securing the return of $1.7 million worth of diamond jewelry that he bought for his mother. This week, his lawyers asked a U.S. judge to let them take the first steps toward selling two luxury condominiums in Manhattan, which are part of U.S. forfeiture lawsuits linked to 1MDB. Who will keep the proceeds remains unresolved as Low continues to fight the suits.
(Updates with further context of Low’s assets throughout.)
To contact the reporters on this story: Andrea Tan in Singapore at [email protected];Anisah Shukry in Kuala Lumpur at [email protected]
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Yudith Ho at [email protected], Shamim Adam
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