Macau criticises MACC claiming Jho Low is there without verification

KUALA LUMPUR, June 1 — Macau’s Office of the Secretary for Security (GSS) said it was “shocked” the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) went public with claims that fugitive Low Taek Jho was in the special administrative region without contacting counterparts there.

In a statement rejecting the claim, the department called it “unverified information” and criticised the MACC’s disclosure as a “violation of practices and rules of international police cooperation and international criminal judicial assistance.”

“Should the report be true, the security branch is extremely surprised and shocked,” the department said in a statement.

The GSS then reiterated its previous denial from 2020, when it had also denied Low — the alleged mastermind behind the 1MDB global corruption scandal who is better known as Jho Low — was hiding there.

Last week, the MACC told the Al-Jazeera news outlet that it had obtained information placing Low and several other 1MDB suspects in Macau.

The information reportedly came from Kee Kok Thiam, who had been deported by Macau for overstaying. Kee died of a massive stroke late last month, just weeks after speaking to the MACC.

Since then, Billion Dollar Whale co-author Bradley Hope has also disputed the MACC’s claim, saying he has received information that Low was under house arrest in Shanghai, China.

Hope repeated his previous claim that China was keeping Low as a bargaining chip for dealings with Malaysia, and could use his extradition to make amends for its previous role in the 1MDB scandal.