KUALA LUMPUR: Fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho has denied a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) report claiming that China had offered to bail out 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) in 2016 in exchange for lucrative contracts.
Low, better known as Jho Low, said the article was part of a sustained attempt to conduct a trial by media by the administration of Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
“This latest WSJ article is a selection of half-truths, mixed in with fiction, to create a misleading and oversimplified narrative that has been peddled by a morally-bankrupt (Dr) Mahathir regime to advance its failing political cause.
“Extraordinary and serious claims require extraordinary evidence and the Mahathir regime has failed to provide any legitimate evidence to support these politically-motivated accusations,” he said via spokesman Benjamin Haslem, who is co-chief executive of Wells Haslem Mayhew.
Low was commenting on a WSJ article which claimed he had a hand in China’s offer to bail out 1MDB in exchange for contracts for the East Coast Rail Link and the Trans-Sabah Gas Pipeline projects.
Low said it was WSJ’s journalistic responsibility to approach such claims with scepticism and suspicion, adding that it was unfortunate that such “baseless political accusations” were passed off as legitimate reporting.
Meanwhile, PKR coordinating secretary Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad has urged he authorities to launch a thorough investigation into the WSJ report.
He said if what was published in the report was true, this showed that the previous government administration had put at risk the sovereignty and neutrality of the nation.
The Setiawangsa member of parliament said China must also attempt to distance itself from the claims in the report, if they were untrue.
“The actions stated in the WSJ report are surely not responsible actions. Simply denying that the Chinese government did not meddle in the affairs of another country would not be enough.
“I hope the Malaysian government will take positive steps to defence our legitimate rights in the South China Sea, based on this expose,” he said.
Following the publication of the WSJ report, former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and the Chinese embassy in Kuala Lumpur had denied the allegations.