No MLA so Jho Low not arrested by Macau, says report
FMT Reporters | July 8, 2018
Wanted businessman is reported to have been in Macau as recently as Saturday, and has not been arrested because there is no mutual legal assistance agreement with Malaysia, says media report.
Wanted businessman Jho Low and family were reported to have gone to Macau after living in Hong Kong. (Reuters pic)
PETALING JAYA: Wanted businessman Low Taek Jho and his family have been reported to be in Macau as recently as Saturday night, according to a Hong Kong news report.
They had left their luxury apartments in the Admiralty district overlooking the harbour last week for Macau, the former Portuguese territory known for its casinos.
A report in Hong Kong’s leading newspaper, the South China Morning Post (SCMP), said on Friday that Low (commonly known as Jho Low) could be seeking asylum. Last night, the daily reported that Low and his family were believed to be still in Macau.
Other media reports yesterday had said that he might have left Macau.
Low is wanted by Malaysian authorities for investigations into allegations of embezzlement of billions of ringgit in funds linked to government-owned 1MDB.
The SCMP reported that Low had lived in Hong Kong for “a couple of months” according to an unnamed source. “He was staying at an apartment in Pacific Place with his family and his entourage,” the report said.
The source said Low had rented several apartments on the 32nd, 34th and 36th floors of Pacific Place Apartments in Admiralty, where monthly rents range from US$10,700 to US$30,000 a month.
“They moved out of Pacific Place and travelled to Macau a few days ago, despite Low being the subject of an Interpol red notice.”
Interpol issued a red notice at Malaysia’s request. The red notice urges police forces around the world to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition.
However, SCMP, quoting sources said Hong Kong did nothing to stop Low because there was no formal request for his arrest from Malaysia or Singapore. While Malaysia has a mutual legal assistance agreement with Hong Kong, there was not one with Macau, another source was quoted as saying.
“Hong Kong police have no obligation to arrest, even if he is on an Interpol red notice. The only obligation is if there is an accompanying formal request from the originating country, which there wasn’t,” the source is quoted as saying.
SCMP said Hong Kong and Macau authorities would not comment on whether Low was in Macau.
“Rumours that he is or has been spending time in Macau have been circulating for more than a month now,” another source was quoted as saying. “However, he cannot stay in Macau for more than 30 days, and if he was coming in and out, the government would have kicked him out on his third entry to the city.”
Low’s only option would be to make an asylum request, the report said
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