LOW Taek Jho, a businessman involved in the global 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal, has reached a tentative settlement to his legal woes with the US Department of Justice (DoJ), Straits Times reports.

The Singapore daily said the settlement is wide-ranging and will resolve all outstanding civil and criminal suits against the Malaysian financier in the United States related to the cases filed in the Central Court District of California in 2016.

The settlement is expected to be finalised today in the US, the daily said.

Under the deal, Low, better known as Jho Low, and parties related to him, are set to waive rights to assets valued at over US$1 billion (RM4.18 billion) allegedly acquired with 1MDB-linked funds that were part of the civil forfeiture claims filed in the US courts by the DoJ between 2016 and 2017.

The assets include a Bombardier Global 5000 jet grounded in Singapore, properties in New York, Los Angeles and London, investments holdings in the EMI Music Publishing Group, and equity holdings in US investment firm Electrum Group and Flywheel Sports Inc.

The daily’s sources said that the settlement also stipulates that both parties have reached an agreement with no admission of guilt on the part of Low and parties associated with him.

Low, remains at large, and was previously reported to be shuttling between China and Macau. 

The Straits Times has been told by legal sources close to the DoJ settlement that Low is currently residing somewhere in the United Arab Emirates and has recently secured asylum in a third country.

The DoJ was the first international agency to detail the extensive roles played by Low and former prime minister Najib Razak in the 1MDB affair. 

The department’s filings in 2016 and 2017 alleged that US$4.5 billion had gone missing from the state-owned strategic development company. They referred to the former premier as Malaysia Official 1, or MO1. 

The report said it is unclear the extent the DoJ settlement will affect the Malaysian government in its ongoing corruption case against Najib and Low over the 1MDB affair as Malaysian prosecutors are said to have relied in part on the findings cited in the DoJ civil forfeiture suits. – October 31, 2019.