KUALA LUMPUR: Fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho or Jho Low is "hardly hiding" in China's global financial hub of Shanghai despite being wanted by the authorities for his role in the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal.
And Low seemingly has control over a Chinese company with a subscribed capital of US$333 million (RM1.6 billion), whose offices are located in the Shanghai World Financial Centre.
This is the latest finding by Tom Wright and Bradley Hope, the authors of "Billion Dollar Whale: The Man Who Fooled Wall Street, Hollywood", in their sixth episode of "Search for Jho Low" on YouTube channel.
The two American journalists said they came about their "biggest reveal" on the fugitive financier after they appointed a researcher who had looked into the corporate structures owned by Low in China. They claimed that one of them was Jinweijing Business Consulting (Shanghai) Ltd, which had an office on the 28th floor of Shanghai's iconic skyscraper.
The owners discovered that the company's name had been changed to Guiyue Business Consulting (Shanghai) Ltd, as well as its ownership.
"Low and Seet Lin Lin had their names removed. Ownership changed to a British Virgin Islands company called Grace Zenith Ltd.
"The name immediately set the bells ringing in our minds. As we know, from Low's entire history, he loves British Virgin Islands companies with names like this," Hope said.
According to a document in China, Hope said, the paid-up capital of the subscribed capital contribution of Guiyue Business Consulting's new owner, Grace Zenith, was US$333 million.
"Now we want to know what this entity is doing. What does Grace Zenith own in the world, and what is this consulting company doing. "And in this office, is Jho Low like literally showing up to work every day in Shanghai's famous tower?" Hope said.
Wright said it was "a very low" move for Low to have an office on the 28th floor of the Shanghai World Financial Centre.
"Because, that is what he was like when he first started out back in Malaysia, where he set up (an office) in the (Petronas) Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur. He always has to have the most prestigious office," Wright said.
He added that he found it bizarre that a criminal on the run like Low could afford such an exclusive set-up.
"It also lays bare what we were talking about in the previous editions of this YouTube series, that Low is able to operate freely in China," he said.
Hope concurred with Wright.
"You would think that with such a notorious financial criminal, the world would be on high alert about any potential abuse of the global financial system by this person.
"If somebody's sloshing around hundreds of millions of dollars, it proves the point of what we wrote in our book.
"That, if you've got a lot of money and you're laundering money at a high level, you're pretty much untouchable," Hope said.