FORMER 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) legal counsel Jasmine Loo Ai Swan who was detained by the Malaysian police last Friday (July 7) to assist in investigations into the misappropriation of funds is an epitome of “a young law graduate transforming into a substantially wealthy woman”.

This is how Sarawak Report who broke the story of her crucial role in the heist from now incarcerated former premier Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s sham development fund in March 2015 would describe her.

Following her re-surfacing in Malaysia after eight years as an associate of fugitive financier Low Taek Jho a.k.a. Jho Low, the political activism portal claimed that its on-going research has unearthed evidence of Loo’s even deeper involvement not only in 1MDB’s ongoing thefts but in both Jho Low’s personal businesses social life.

Such was Jasmine’s trusted and crucial role as a lawyer who is prepared to sign corrupt documentation to facilitate 1MDB-related thefts by acting in her capacity as the legal counsel for 1MDB.

“Her reward, as documented by the US Department of Justice and FBI investigators, were payments totalling million dollars that were transferred into her River Dee account at the notorious Falcon Bank, transforming the slip of a young law graduate into a substantially wealthy woman,” noted Sarawak Report.

“In fact, most of the episodes that have now unravelled in the course of this heist involved Jasmine signing important documents that confirmed the ‘legitimate’ nature of the 1MDB bank transfers.”

It was therefore of little surprise that when the first ‘Wanted’ notices were issued by the Malaysian task force into the scandal following the original Sarawak Report exposé of the PetroSaudi heist in February 2015, Loo, now 50, was one of the two being hunted.

The other was Casey Tang, another Jho Low associate, who had been appointed to senior management at 1MDB.

Recall that the Kuala Lumpur High Court had on Jan 20, allowed an n application by a third party, namely OCBC Bank (M) Bhd, to claim a condominium in Mont Kiara here which was seized from Loo (prior to her return from hiding).

Additionally, judge Datuk Azhar Abdul Hamid also consented to the prosecution’s application to forfeit the rights to three more assets, namely an Audi car and a Volkswagen New Beetle car (seized on Jan 27, 2021) as well as money amounting to RM22,600 in Loo’s Maybank Islamic Bhd current account (seized on Feb 2, 2021).

When life on the run becomes unbearable

According to Sarawak Report, social media trawls have revealed that in the process of becoming one of the key professional villains so vital to Jho Low’s success in stealing a total of US$5 bil (US$1=RM4.60), Jasmine had entered his inner circle of friends and had become part of his “Hollywood set”.

“She was integral to the party circuit cultivated by the fraudster as he sought to impress current and potential future collaborators by spending inordinate amounts of cash in nightclub haunts in Vegas, San Tropez, Sydney and LA (Los Angeles),” highlighted the portal.

“Jasmine was featured on Facebook as late as Christmas 2015 (together with Riza Aziz’s co-producer on Wolf of Wall Street, Joey McFarland) on a skiing holiday in France with the celebrity couple Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz.

“The couple had been paid ludicrous sums by Jho Low for various performance routines and described their ski party companions as ‘family’. Other holidays together included trips to Whistler. Loo bought a swanky apartment in East 22nd Street in 2014 for an impressive US$4.5 mil.”

To cut a long list of Loo’s scandalous activities short, Sarawak Report reckoned that the re-appearance of Loo will prove to be far more devastating for Jho Low and those from his family and entourage who remain.

“It is also a visceral blow to Najib Razak whose trial is reaching a crucial stage,” reckoned the London-based portal helmed by editor Clare Rewcastle Brown. “She is cooperating with the authorities and she is the one who signed the documents and knew exactly what happened and who sanctioned it.”

Added Sarawak Report: “The authorities would do well to place this young lady under full protection and to take her full timed and recorded statements as soon as possible.

“She may well feel her relatively modest payment of US$5 mil was not worth this destruction to her life. If so, she should warn others how the ‘highlife’ can well turn into a nightmare existence where crime is involved,” added Sarawak Report. - July 13, 2023

https://focusmalaysia.my/unbearable-fugitive-life-could-have-prompted-jasmine-loo-to-return-home-to-face-the-music-over-her-1mdb-heist-role/