FUGITIVE Penang-born businessman Low Taek Jho, commonly known as Jho Low, has some kind of “mental illness” for having stolen so much from Malaysians just to display his wealth, said 1MDB whistleblower Xavier Andre Justo.

Low, believed to be hiding in China, was no common criminal, Justo told radio station BFM in a 40-minute interview today.

“I do think that this guy suffers from some kind of mental illness. The level of this scam is something I’ve never seen. For what? Just to rent yachts, buy jets? Buying paintings, offering thousands of bags and jewellery to models?”

Low is on the run from authorities for allegedly siphoning at least US$4.5 billion (RM18.8 billion) from the state investment fund.

The US Department of Justice said the money was used by Low and his associates to buy a jet, the superyacht Equanimity, at least US$1 billion in property, and other assets, as well as to host parties for guests that included paid appearances by Hollywood celebrities.

“He hasn’t done anything with the money except to spend and invite prestigious guests and singers. What did he really get out of this money? He just made other people rich. He paid for Britney Spears to appear out of that (his birthday) cake.”  

“I can understand if a criminal goes to another country to buy a nice house, but to steal money from your own people, your own poor people, just to have Jamie Foxx drink with you? How pathetic,” Justo said.

Justo, 52, said he met Low twice, once at a Nobu restaurant in New York and the second time at an anchored rented yacht, Princess Mariana, at the south of France.

He did not say when the meetings took place.

“The Princess Mariana was rented for 500,000 euros (RM2.4 million) a week. It was rented for at least a month under my name. I want to assure (people), I didn’t pay for this rent.

“The people who steal, they no longer have moral limits to spend two million (euros) to hire a boat to host ten people, with 25 people working on it.”

“Even if I had a billion, I wouldn’t do this. They didn’t even move the boat. It was just to be seen with the boat.

“At school, we were comparing other things, but when they grew up, they compared the size of their boats.”

Justo maintained that he did not discuss business with Low, as he was instructed not to do so.

“I honestly don’t remember the topics of our conversation, because it was not intense. It was probably about the quality of the sushi or the temperature of the water.”

“He is very discreet and quiet. He does not like to stand up and speak. If you don’t speak to him, he will not speak to you. It was my only souvenir (from meeting him), (to learn that) he’s a very shy guy.”

During the interview, Justo chronicled his falling-out with PetroSaudi directors Patrick Mahony and Tarek Obaid, after which he left the firm in 2013.

He said that he eventually became the target of a conspiracy by the two men, which eventually landed him in Thai prison two years later for allegedly attempting to blackmail PetroSaudi over a stolen cache of documents housed in two hard disk drives.

By 2015, he had settled in Thailand with his new wife and child.

Justo said he was convinced by Sarawak Report editor Clare Rewcastle-Brown in February 2015 to hand over the documents to Tong Kooi Ong, the owner of The Edge Communications, in a meeting in Singapore.

He said he had initially demanded 2.5 million Swiss francs (RM10.4 million) for his troubles, which he felt was owed to him by PetroSaudi.

“She (Brown) was very convincing. I was convinced that the right thing to do was to give the data regardless whether I was to be paid or not. I did it because I felt I was immune there (in Thailand).”

Justo said the Thai prison had “inhuman” conditions, and that he was made to sign a legal agreement under duress to take legal action against Rewcastle-Brown and The Edge.  

He said that he was only allowed to speak to reporters vetted by PetroSaudi, who he said were in cahoots with the prison’s administrators.

“The goal of PetroSaudi was not punishment (for blackmailing). It was to have me locked away from the press and from Europe.

“I was just being manipulated to tell the story that I stole and manipulated the data, that I was working with the opposition and the (online) press to overthrow the legitimate government.”

Justo maintained that he never received any money. – November 1, 2018.