KUALA LUMPUR: Fugitive Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho (
pic), better known as Jho Low, has supposedly been located in a luxury neighbourhood in Shanghai, China, where he is said to be living under a false identity and working with entities linked to the Chinese government.
Former Wall Street Journal reporters Bradley Hope and Tom Wright — who broke key details of the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) corruption scandal and co-authored Billion Dollar Whale — claimed that Low is now residing in Green Hills, an exclusive enclave in Shanghai.
The duo made the claims during a live stream titled Finding Jho Low, hosted yesterday by their investigative platform, Project Brazen.
They alleged that Low is using the alias Constantinos Achilles Veis and carrying a fake Australian passport, which allows him to travel within China while concealing his identity.
“Jho Low is now a behind-the-scenes strategist for the Chinese government,” Hope said.
They added that Low’s alleged responsibilities include “helping sanctioned Chinese companies navigate difficulties around the world.”
Low is the alleged mastermind behind the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal, in which at least US$4.5 billion (approximately RM19 billion) was misappropriated from the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund.
The US Department of Justice has previously stated that the stolen funds were used to acquire luxury real estate in the US, a private jet, a superyacht, high-value artworks, and to finance the 2013 film The Wolf of Wall Street.
Hollywood actor Leonardo DiCaprio, who starred in the film, publicly thanked Low by name during his 2014 Golden Globe Awards acceptance speech.
In 2016, US authorities moved to seize assets linked to the film’s production, alleging it was funded with embezzled Malaysian money.
Low has been on the run since 2015, after international investigations into 1MDB intensified. His whereabouts have remained unknown since, with occasional speculation but no confirmed sightings.
Hope and Wright’s latest claims represent the most detailed account of Low’s location and activities in years.
However, there has been no official confirmation from Chinese or Malaysian authorities at the time of writing.
