'RM42b heist and unanswered questions' – Jho Low still a wanted person
INTERVIEW | Fugitive businessperson Jho Low, who is speculated to be hiding in China, is still a wanted man in Malaysia, according to Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
He was asked if Malaysian authorities are continuing their hunt for Low since the government had sold his superyacht and recovered part of the 1MDB funds, which were alleged to have been misappropriated...
INTERVIEW | Fugitive businessperson Jho Low, who is speculated to be hiding in China, is still a wanted man in Malaysia, according to Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
He was asked if Malaysian authorities are continuing their hunt for Low since the government had sold his superyacht and recovered part of the 1MDB funds, which were alleged to have been misappropriated.
"There is still a lot of money lost. What we recovered wasn't much - less than RM2 billion.
"He stole RM42 billion from 1MDB alone,” the premier told a special media interview in Putrajaya this afternoon.
Mahathir said there were also unanswered questions such as the whereabouts of the siphoned funds, who received them and who is keeping them.
"We have problems detecting him, but we are still going after him," he added.
Malaysia has appealed to various countries to help track and recoup the US$4.5 billion which is believed to have been misappropriated from 1MDB.
Last year, Singapore returned S$15.3 million, whereas Low's yacht was sold for RM514.14 million to Genting Malaysia Bhd.
Earlier this month, Bloomberg reported that US and Singaporean authorities were preparing to return more than RM930 million allegedly misappropriated from 1MDB.
On a separate matter, Mahathir reiterated that limited funds had led Putrajaya's move to scrap or renegotiate major infrastructure development projects.
Quizzed on possibility of reviving the MRT3 project, Mahathir said: "It is too costly at the moment.
"We know it is useful, but even if it is useful, we don’t have the money.
"If we borrow money then we will have more problems with finances."
Mahathir first announced on May 30 last year that the MRT3 project - intended to link up the completed MRT1 running from Sungai Buloh to Kajang and the ongoing MRT2 running from Sungai Buloh to Putrajaya - will be scrapped.
'No solution for MAS'
Meanwhile, Mahathir said the government received various suggestions on the future operations of loss-making Malaysia Airlines Bhd.
"We haven’t made a decision," said Mahathir when quizzed on the government's stand to retain MAS as a national carrier or otherwise.
"I think the losses, the bad management have been so terrible that it is difficult to turn it around.
"So many airlines have been sold to other people because the airline industry is very competitive after the emergence of low-cost carriers," he said.
In March, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng gave an assurance that the government is not going to close down MAS, after Mahathir said the government would study various options before deciding on its fate.
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