A financial fraud investigator told a Singapore court Monday that at least US$13 million was transferred from the Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) government fund to Las Vegas Sands properties through a shell company.
According to authorities, fugitive Low Taek Jho, or Jho Low, and his close colleague, Eric Tan Kim Loong, utilized the money to gamble at large sums.
Low is a fugitive from justice who is believed to be hiding in China.
He is suspected of orchestrating what has been termed as “perhaps the single largest heist in the history of the world”: the loss of US$4.5 billion from 1MDB. The fund was intended to support Malaysian economic and infrastructure projects.
The scheme’s conspirators included Malaysian, Saudi, and UAE government officials. It quickly rose to the top of the charts in Malaysia. In 2015, then-Prime Minister Najib Razak was accused of funneling US$700 million into his personal bank account. In 2018, he received a 12-year prison sentence for corruption.
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Low Gambled High.
It’s not the first time Low has bet for huge money in Las Vegas. Kirk Godby, a marketing officer for The Venetian, disclosed in 2022 that the rogue businessman had wagered US$87 million on the VIP baccarat tables at the LVS facility.
Godby was testifying in the trial of Roger Ng, a former Goldman Sachs banker who was eventually convicted by the US government of money laundering and bribery in connection with the 1MDB case. He earned a thirty-year prison sentence.
However, testimony given Monday by Richard Templeman, a UK-based financial fraud investigator, revealed the strong relationship between the 1MDB fund and Low’s LVS account.
Templeman was testifying in a civil lawsuit filed by 1MDB and its subsidiaries against numerous corporate organizations accused of handling around US$248 million in stolen assets. Riza Aziz, Razak’s stepson, controls Red Granite Pictures Inc. and Red Granite Capital Ltd.
Money Trail
According to Templeman, US$41 million was moved from Red Granite Capital to Alsen Chance, a shell firm, on June 20, 2012. The latter existed only to launder monies taken from 1MDB. The money was then dispersed to several entities, including LVS, which received US$13 million.
It appears that Low received the lion’s share of the gambling money. US$11 million was designated for “PLAYER NO 3454296” and US$2 million for “TAN KIM LOONG PLAYER NO 4678710.”
Three days later, the remaining buy-ins, $7.35 million and $1.3 million, were credited to the Alsen Chance account by LVS. The transactions were identified as “funds due from Low Taek Jho” and “funds due from Tan Kim Loong.”
Low was an international jetsetter who dated model Miranda Kerr and spent time with Hollywood celebs. In 2011, he allegedly bought a $325,000 white Ferrari as a wedding gift for Kim Kardashian, and he showered Leonardo DiCaprio with Picassos and Basquiats, which the latter later returned.
Low even put $100 million in the creation of the Oscar-nominated film Wolf of Wall Street, which explores issues of fraud and excessive corporate greed.
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