PUTRAJAYA will first have to establish that the money used to buy Low Taek Jho’s jet was stolen from Malaysia before acquiring it, said Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

The prime minister said if funds were stolen from Malaysia, then the jet belongs to the nation.

“We will try to get back the jet from Singapore.

“It is the same with the boat (the Equanimity superyacht),” he said after the launch of the Cardiac Vascular Sentral Kuala Lumpur hospital.

Singapore police said in a Reuters report that Malaysia has yet to ask for the return of the private jet linked to the multi-billion dollar 1Malaysia Development Bhd scandal, which is parked at Seletar Airport.

Malaysia is seeking to seize the aircraft believed to belong to Low, but Singapore police told Reuters they had not received a formal request from Malaysian authorities for the aircraft to be returned.

Low is also wanted by Malaysian authorities investigating charges of fraud and money laundering at the state investment fund.

Dr Mahathir said that the Bombardier Global 5000 jet, said to be worth US$35 million (RM143 million), be brought back from Singapore once it was airworthy.

In a statement from his lawyers, the fugitive said that if the seizure of his private jet was anything like the “illegal seizure of the Equanimity”, the prime minister would “ignore ongoing legal processes, conduct a trial by media and public event, use political pressure, and illegally declare ownership of the asset before a single piece of evidence is presented”.

Low had levelled similar charges against Dr Mahathir early this month, when Indonesia agreed to hand over to Malaysia the RM1 billion Equanimity superyacht it had seized in Bali.

The Equanimity, along with the private jet, is among the assets that United States and Malaysian authorities say was bought with money stolen from 1MDB. – August 16, 2018.