The months-long battle over Jho Low’s $260 million superyacht took an unexpected new twist. An Indonesian court has thrown a spanner in the works for U.S. prosecutors.
A district court in Jakarta ordered the country's national police to return «Equanimity,» a $260 million superyacht to its owner, the «Jakarta Post» reported on Wednesday.
The unexpected decision adds uncertainty to the seizure of assets worth hundreds of millions from Low, including luxury U.S. real estate such as New York's Park Lane hotel and fine art.
End of the Saga?
The court ruled that the police’s move to seize the luxury vessel in Bali was unlawful. The confiscation of the yacht, according to the judge, fell foul of a technicality. The judgement, which cannot be appealed, potentially hands the yacht back into Jho Low's hands.
A decision earlier this month from another district court judge in the city's capital threw out requests by the trusts holding title to the yacht to keep it berthed in Bali, while they challenge the legality of the seizure of the luxury vessel by the U.S.
The trusts are controlled by Low, a financier and businessman who went AWOL when U.S. prosecutors accused him of being a key player in a $4.5 billion fraud at Malaysian wealth fund 1 Malaysia Development Berhad, or 1MDB.
