Jho Low’s mother a person of interest in 1MDB probe

PETALING JAYA: The mother of fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho is wanted by the police as Bukit Aman widens its net in the high-profile investigation into 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).

This is the first time Goh Gaik Ewe (pic), 66, is implicated in the probe by Malaysian police, who had been targeting just Low, also known as Jho Low, and his father Tan Sri Larry Low Hock Peng prior to this.

In this latest development, Goh was named along with Hock Peng and two others – Singaporean natio­nal Shabnam Naraindas Daswani@Natasha Mirpuri, 54, and Tan Kim Loong, 40.

Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Mohamad Fuzi Harun said the four persons of interest were wanted to assist in the investigation under Section 4(1) of the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Finan­cing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act.

“We urge anyone with information on these individuals to contact the police as soon as possible.

“We hope for public cooperation on the matter,” he said.

Those with information should contact Supt Foo Wei Min at 03-2610 1402 or Deputy Supt Albany Hamzah at 019-241 2826 from the Bukit Aman’s Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Finan­cing Prevention division or the nearest police station.

Meanwhile, questions arise on the whereabouts of Low’s sister May Lin, a lawyer who specialised in offshore structures and who was said to have been admitted to practise in Singapore and the British Virgin Islands.

Her whereabouts are unknown since she was arrested by Singaporean authorities in 2016.

Sources said May Lin was arrested at Changi Airport on the mor­ning of May 14 or 15 of that year.

Diplomatic officials believe she was released by Singapore police and allowed to leave the country.

It is not known whether Singapore police conferred with Bukit Aman on her arrest and the outcome of the investigation on her.

In another development, a team of police officers spent about eight hours at the office of law firm Rahmat Lim & Partners in search of files relevant to the 1MDB investigation.

Bukit Aman Commercial Crimes Investigation Department acting director Deputy Comm Datuk Saiful Azly Kamaruddin said CCID officers arrived at the office, located in the Bangsar area, on Thursday at about 10am and only finished their search at 6.30pm.

“We seized several documents and laptops. The raid team also downloaded several files from the law firm’s hard drive,” he said.

No arrests had been made so far, he added.