High stakes, low odds: why 1MDB’s Jho Low unlikely to receive Trump pardon

Fugitive financier Jho Low’s request for a pardon from US President Donald Trump has reopened a central question left by Malaysia’s 1MDB scandal: whether the man alleged to have helped orchestrate one of the world’s biggest financial frauds will ever face trial. Analysts say the request appears unlikely to succeed because Low has never appeared in a US court, stood trial or accepted responsibility – and a pardon cannot erase charges he faces in Malaysia and Singapore. But the attempt has still landed awkwardly in Kuala Lumpur, where Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s government is trying to recover stolen 1MDB assets while proving the country’s post-2018 anti-corruption reset has not lost momentum. The Malaysian, whose legal name is Low Taek Jho, filed an official request in recent weeks for a US presidential pardon that could wipe away criminal charges against him in the United States, the New York-based The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday. The US Justice Department website lists a pending request under his name for a “Pardon after Completion of Sentence”. “The Trump administration isn’t considering granting a pardon to Jho Low, we’re told by sources,” Tom Wright, the journalist and co-author of Billion Dollar Whale, a book chronicling Low’s rise and the 1MDB scandal, told This Week in Asia. “He attempted in Trump’s first term to get the US to drop its prosecution but was unsuccessful. There’s no indication he will be successful this time, especially with the political spotlight on Trump’s pardons,” Wright said. “I don’t believe he will be able to buy his way out of his legal issues.” Set up in 2009 under now-jailed former prime minister Najib Razak, 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) was meant to drive economic development and attract investment. US prosecutors allege it instead became the vehicle for a sprawling fraud, with more than US$4.5 billion misappropriated between 2009 and 2015 through shell companies, offshore accounts and luxury purchases. Johari Abdul Ghani, the trade minister who chairs Malaysia’s 1MDB asset recovery task force, said Washington should reject Low’s application and help Malaysia locate the man instead. “As far as I’m concerned, I’m against the pardon,” Johari told local daily The Star on Wednesday. Hollywood high life Low was charged in 2018 with conspiring to launder billions of dollars and violate anti-bribery laws in Malaysia. The Justice Department has described his relationships with senior officials in Malaysia and Abu Dhabi as central to the scheme. He became infamous for turning allegedly stolen public money into an international spectacle of access and excess: nights out with Paris Hilton, ties to Hollywood and music industry figures, luxury homes, casino sprees, fine art, a private jet and the superyacht Equanimity. US authorities also pursued assets tied to The Wolf of Wall Street. The Martin Scorsese film was financed by Red Granite Pictures, the production company co-founded by Riza Aziz, stepson of Najib Razak. As of last month, Low is still living openly in Shanghai, enjoying nights out Tom Wright, co-author of ‘Billion Dollar Whale’ According to Wright, Low remains at large. “As of last month, Low is still living openly in Shanghai, enjoying nights out,” he said, adding that Low appeared to have undergone minor plastic surgery and had continued to negotiate with Malaysia over returning 1MDB assets in exchange for clemency. “The most likely scenario is [that] Low continues to live freely in Shanghai.” Low’s pardon request looks like a “very long-shot attempt to finally get US law enforcement off his back”, according to Blake Berger, deputy director of research firm Verve Research. But the odds remain “extremely low”, he said, estimating them to be “below 5 per cent”. “A pardon from Trump would not cease or impact existing cases in both Malaysia and Singapore, where he continues to face charges,” Berger said. “Should Trump pardon Jho Low, it would be not only extremely rare but send the wrong message in the US and elsewhere that political connections, money, and influence can overturn a case of this magnitude.” Any pardon would risk undercutting trust between Malaysian and US law enforcement, he said. But it would not necessarily halt asset recovery because Washington’s kleptocracy unit was built for cases where criminal prosecution is difficult or incomplete. The Justice Department said in 2024 that it had returned about US$1.4 billion in misappropriated 1MDB funds to Malaysia, after a civil forfeiture campaign that led to the seizure of more than US$1.7 billion in stolen assets. Unfinished chapter In Malaysia, the political sting is sharper. Najib is already in prison over 1MDB-linked convictions, even as Low remains free. The scandal helped topple the Barisan Nasional government in 2018, triggered investigations across several jurisdictions and forced Goldman Sachs to pay more than US$2.9 billion in a coordinated global settlement over its role in raising billions for 1MDB. Most Malaysians understood that locating Low involved legal and diplomatic complications beyond Putrajaya’s full control, but his continued absence still made the 1MDB chapter feel unfinished, said Amir Fareed Rahim, strategic director at risk consultancy KRA Group. “1MDB no longer carries the same electoral weight it once did. Cost of living and economic issues dominate public concerns today,” Amir said. “The bigger risk for Anwar is reputational rather than destabilising, particularly among reform-minded voters who still see 1MDB as a test of institutional credibility and anti-corruption reform.” That symbolism was on display last week inside the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s headquarters in Putrajaya, where four recovered paintings linked to 1MDB were shown publicly for the first time after being repatriated from New York last month. A Picasso, a Miro, a Balthus and a Maurice Utrillo stood on easels under controlled lighting, with a combined estimated value of about US$198,125. “A pardon will not work as two Goldman Sachs personnel have been convicted already, and Najib has been jailed for two 1MDB-related crimes of corruption and money laundering,” Cynthia Gabriel, founder of the Centre to Combat Corruption and Cronyism, told This Week in Asia. “He [also] needs to face criminal prosecution.”

High stakes, low odds: why 1MDB’s Jho Low unlikely to receive Trump pardon

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The request appears unlikely to succeed because Low has never appeared in a US court, stood trial or accepted responsibility, analysts say

The request appears unlikely to succeed because Low has never appeared in a US court, stood trial or accepted responsibility, analysts say