The family of Jho Low, suspected to be the financial mastermind behind billions siphoned from 1MDB, is moving to protect $650 million in assets set for seizure by U.S. authorities as part of a corruption probe.
Jho Low's whereabouts remain unknown, but he has received backing from four family members including his father and his brother. They are now seeking to replace trustees in Switzerland, in an attempt to stop millions in cash and other assets from being seized by U.S. officials investigating 1MDB, «Bloomberg» reported on Wednesday.
Assets that Low's family are seeking to protect include a $35-million Bombardier Jet, a $380 million stake in the Park Lane Hotel in New York, a $107-million share in EMI Music Publishing, and a $30-million penthouse in New York.
Elusive, Hard-Partying
A portrait of the elusive Low has slowly emerged through the guilty plea of his former private banker and the trial of another banker who is accused of working directly for the Malaysian businessman, as finews.asia previously reported.
It is not the first time that the hard-partying Low has invoked his family to protect him: prosecutors allege that he attempted to call off questions by Swiss bank BSI by insinuating that compliance inquiries into family money transfers were «bad luck and taboo».
Low appears to have enriched himself in a similar fashion as Khadem Al-Qubaisi, the former head of a major Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund who is now imprisoned.
