Businessperson Low Taek Jho, who investigators believe is a central figure in the 1MDB scandal, had been living with his family at an upscale apartment in Hong Kong.

According to South China Morning Post (SCMP), Low and his entourage were occupying multiple rooms at the Pacific Place Apartments, located in Admiralty, Hong Kong.

“Low was in Hong Kong for a couple months... They moved out of Pacific Place and travelled to Macau a few days ago, despite Low being the subject of an Interpol red notice," the Hong Kong-based newspaper quoted a source as saying.

According to the newspaper, it said Low could hide in plain sight as there was no formal request from Malaysia and Singapore to arrest Low at the time, even though he was in the Interpol red notice list.

“Hong Kong police have no obligation to arrest, even if he is on an Interpol red notice.

"The only obligation is if there is an accompanying formal request from the originating country, which there wasn’t," the source was quoted as saying.

On Thursday, inspector-general of police Mohamad Fuzi Harun said Low left for Macau as soon as a team of Malaysian police arrived in Hong Kong.

The SCMP report said Hong Kong and Malaysia have an agreement for the surrender of fugitives but there was no extradition treaty between Macau and Malaysia.

The SCMP visited the apartments but receptionists there claimed they could not identify Low.

They also claimed there was no such name registered there.

"According to several rental websites, a one-bedroom, 1,220 sq ft flat in the building costs an average of HK$84,000 a month (RM43,200) while a three-bedroom flat of more than 2,650 sq ft goes for HK$230,000 (RM118,400) a month," said the report.