The New Zealand government has denied issuing a passport to 1MDB-linked  businessperson Low Taek Jho, known more commonly as Jho Low.

In an email, the country's Te Tari Taiwhenua, or Department of Internal Affairs, stated that Low was not a New Zealand citizen, and as such had not been accorded a passport.

"I can confirm that Mr Jho Low is not a New Zealand citizen. Only New Zealand citizens are entitled to hold a New Zealand passport," read the email from the department, which was sent to Stuff.co.nz journalist Hamish Rutherford on behalf of Malaysiakini.

Penang-born Low is believed to be a key figure behind the multibillion-ringgit 1MDB scandal and is wanted in several countries to facilitate their respective probes into the matter.

It was reported recently that he could be holding multiple passports from Thailand, Australia and New Zealand.

The Star Online, quoting an unnamed source, speculated that he could be using these passports to evade arrest.

However, the Australian government has since denied issuing him a passport.

Attempts by Malaysiakini to verify the matter with Thai officials have been unsuccessful.

The report came after both Low's Malaysian and St Kitts and Nevis passports were revoked.

It was reported in August that Malaysian police had filed money-laundering charges against Low and his father Larry Low Hock Peng in absentia at the Sessions Court in Putrajaya.

Additionally, the US Department of Justice had indicted Low this month, also in absentia, for conspiring to launder billions of dollars from 1MDB and conspiring to violate the American Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).