Following Najib Razak’s imprisonment yesterday, the authors of the best-selling book Billion Dollar Whale have urged the public to find Low Taek Jho, the man commonly referred to as Jho Low and the mastermind behind the 1MDB financial scandal.
In a series of tweets, co-author Bradley Hope said they needed the public’s help in finding “the original Billion Dollar whale himself”.
“With Najib in prison, he’s the final piece of the puzzle,” he tweeted.
WE NEED YOUR HELP to find the original Billion Dollar Whale himself, Jho Low. With Najib in prison, he’s the final piece of the puzzle.
Send us a message: projectbrazen@protonmail.com#whereisjholow
Let’s find him!#Malaysia #1MDB #NajibRazak @TomWrightAsia @WhaleHunting_
— Bradley Hope (@bradleyhope) August 23, 2022
Malaysian businessman Low went off radar in 2018 after Najib’s government lost the general election and he is now considered a fugitive. The 40-year-old faces charges for money laundering and a litany of other offenses related to the 1MDB scandal.
The book, which became an international best-seller, tells the story of how Low managed to pull off one of the biggest heists in history right under the nose of the global financial industry.
Meanwhile, co-author Tom Wright recounted an anecdote from his time writing Billion Dollar Whale that he felt was particularly pertinent in light of yesterday’s ruling.
In all the years covering Najib, his 2014 trip to a Chanel store in the Ala Moana Center best captures his nature. He was visiting Obama in Hawaii, but had to go home to Malaysia because of floods. His wife was angry for cutting her holiday short…
— Tom Wright (@TomWrightAsia) August 23, 2022
Yesterday, Malaysia’s former premier Najib failed in his final bid to overturn his 12-year prison sentence and RM210 million (US$46.7 million) fine at Malaysia’s Supreme Court after Chief Justice Tengku Maimun Tuan upheld his guilty verdict from the Court of Appeal.
Najib was found guilty of siphoning funds from SRC International, a former subsidiary company of 1MDB.
He was transported to Kajang Prison immediately after the verdict was read. However, it is far from not the end of the 69-year-old’s legal troubles as he still has other charges against him in the 1MBD trial.
In that trial, Najib is standing trial for corruption over the misappropriation of RM2.28 billion in 1MDB funds. He is facing 25 charges, four for abuse of power and 21 for money laundering, for offenses allegedly committed between 2011 and 2013.
