FORMER 1MDB general counsel Jasmine Loo told the Kuala Lumpur High Court that she did not suspect fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho (also known as Jho Low) was involved in embezzling funds from 1MDB as the latter was already a wealthy man.
Testifying in former premier Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 1MDB trial on Friday (March 15), Loo, who was the 50th prosecution witness, clarified why she did not question the US$9 mil transferred into her two Swiss bank accounts between 2012 and 2013.
“This money was deposited by Jho Low,” she was reported as saying by FMT under cross-examination by lawyer Tan Sri Mohamed Shafee Abdullah.
Loo, who left the country in 2018 but returned in July last year, said she was the authorised signatory of the accounts and was in control of them.
She said the Department of Justice (DOJ) commenced court proceedings and eventually forfeited all the money in the accounts and both properties with her consent.
“However, my legal fees were paid out from the accounts,” she added.
Loo went on to testify that in addition to the US$9 mil deposited into the account, additional monies going into the account were subsequently used to purchase high-end apartments in New York and London.
She confirmed that the funds were used to purchase an apartment in early 2014 near Harrods, the British luxury department store which was valued at £1.8 million.
She testified that she never really lived there due to ongoing refurbishment work. Loo said that the apartment was also not rented out due to media reports on 1MDB which surfaced in 2015.
“Early 2015, there was a lot of chatter in the media. I decided I was not going to do anything with the property,” she testified.
Meanwhile, the New York property was valued at US$4.5 mil.
According to Loo, Low told her the US$15 mil was arranged by him for investment through various entities like Affinity Equity Investment and Blackstone Real Estate Corporation.
“I have since found out that Eric Tan (an associate of Low) was involved in the investment through one of the companies,” she said.
According to the DOJ, more than US$4 bil was stolen from the 1MDB fund and spent on art, diamonds and properties.
She also brushed off Shafee’s suggestion that she struck a deal with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) as she faces two money laundering charges.
In 2018, Loo was charged in absentia with laundering a total of US$5.99 mil.
Najib, who is also a former finance minister, is facing 25 charges of money laundering and abuse of power over alleged 1MDB funds in his AmBank accounts. – March 15, 2024
Main pic credit: Reuters
