The world’s largest firm for citizenship had far more extensive dealings with 1MDB fugitive Jho Low than it has until now admitted, according to a journalism investigation – which has receipts detailing the web of connections.
Jho Low remains a fugitive after reaching a $700 million settlement with U.S. officials 15 months ago. As Malaysia picks apart the $4.5 billion 1MDB graft in court, Low is believed to be hiding in Macau, protected by China.
The Malaysian businessman earned major fees from catering to Low in both securing him Cypriot citizenship as well as in helping him to buy a luxury seaside property, according to a reporting joint venture between OCCRP, or Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, and Sarawak Report, a U.K.-based blog on Malaysian graft.
Their investigation turned up extensive receipts issued for the services by Henley. The firm, which until now had denied securing a passport for Low, is a huge player in the $25 billion citizenship-by-investment business.
Run by Swiss lawyer Christian Kaelin, Henley took in at least 710,000 euros ($855,350) from Low. The bulk of this was from helping broker a 5.5 million euro beach house from a firm partnered with Henley, where more than 300 employees organize passports on behalf of the super-rich, in 2015.
Wide Swath in Swiss Banking
This is because buying real estate worth at least 500,000 euros was part of the deal to clinch a Cypriot passport at the time, which Low did later in 2015 (he also tried in St. Kitts and Nevis). Low is still sought in the U.S. in a separate investigation for laundering billions in 1MDB monies as well as covertly donating money to the 2012 U.S. presidential election.
It is a case study in how Switzerland's financial and related industries work in lockstep. Low cut a wide swath in Swiss banking: Banca della Svizzera Italiana's dealings with him effectively wiped the bank out when the 1MDB scandal surfaced, and Falcon Private Bank did irreparable damage to itself with the 1MDB connection as well.
«An Example To Learn From»
Henley maintained to OCCRP and Sarawak that Low was never a client. The journalism consortium details, with emails and leaked financial documents, how Low was catered to by a company, Fidescorp, which worked more closely with Henley than the latter firm has until now admitted.
The London-based citizenship firm maintained it «did nothing wrong,» but acknowledged that it had made a series of significant changes in management and in governance since 2017. Its largest commission off the business connected to Low – 650,000 euros on the beachfront property – represented a healthy 13 percent of the value, and paid to a Maltese company by a broker who worked with, then later for, Henley.
The invoicing for the house was done through a Cypriot shell company which appears to have been set up expressly for the purpose of the property deal. Henley conceded the Low property deal is «an example from which Henley & Partners should and did learn.»
Associates Denied By Cyprus
Those in Low’s entourage, including his brother and Low’s now-wife, weren’t as lucky: Low Taek Szen applied to become Cypriot the same year as his brother did – he was denied, as were Jasmine Ai Swan, an ex-1MDB lawyer, and Eric Tan, a close aid.
By 2019, Low’s girlfriend Jesselyn Chuan Teik Ying also applied for a passport in Cyprus, via Fidescorp. She withdrew her application as the scandal around Low’s passport surfaced. Cyprus officials, which are investigating how Low came to hold their citizenship despite being alleged in a massive kleptocracy scheme, are looking into revoking his citizenship.
