Low Taek Jho, the alleged mastermind of the looting of Malaysia’s 1MDB fund, was ordered to forfeit a trio of “flawless” diamonds he bought for his mother that were from the jeweller who has designed for celebrities like Beyoncé and Adele.
A federal judge in Los Angeles on Monday ordered the fugitive Malaysian financier, known as Jho Low, to surrender claims to a 7.35 carat diamond ring as well as matching diamond earrings both greater than 3 carats.
The judge ruled they were bought in the looting of billions of dollars from the Malaysian fund. The ring is valued at about US$1.17 million and the earrings are worth about US$628,000, the United States says.
The three diamonds were created by prestigious New York-based designer Lorraine Schwartz, who US prosecutors said also made a US$23 million necklace – with a pink diamond big enough to be a paperweight – and personally delivered it to Rosmah Mansor, the wife of former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, according to court testimony in the US.
US District Judge Dale Fischer in Los Angeles described the diamonds as a gift from Low to his mother Evelyn and ruled that the jewels were “criminal proceeds” of the 1MDB fraud.
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The legacy of Malaysia’s 1MDB scandal on politics and corruption-fighting
The legacy of Malaysia’s 1MDB scandal on politics and corruption-fighting
Low remains a fugitive from prosecution by both US authorities and Malaysia. He reached a deal in June with the US Justice Department to return more than US$100 million of assets which the government alleges he acquired using funds from 1Malaysia Development Bhd.
Meanwhile, in a related case, Jasmine Loo, a former lawyer for 1MDB, was ordered on Monday to forfeit a Pablo Picasso pencil sketch drawing titled Trois Femmes Nues et Buste d’Homme, which she bought for about US$1.4 million.
Loo, who was charged by Malaysia authorities and testified against Razak this year, also agreed to surrender US$25,000 held in a Swiss bank account, according to an order signed on Monday by Fischer.
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