A BACKBENCHER has suggested that the government offer a RM10mil bounty for information on the whereabouts of fugitive billionaire businessman Low Taek Jho, also known as Jho Low, who is implicated in the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal.
Pakatan Harapan’s Chong Zhemin said the government could perhaps consider the proposal and also form a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) to review the settlement agreement signed with Goldman Sachs.
“I would like to propose this and I am sure that many will agree with this – can the government put out a bounty as a reward to capture Jho Low?
“RM1mil or RM10mil is fine because the amount is less than the billions we have lost.
“If we manage to capture Jho Low, only then will we know what truly happened in the 1MDB scandal,” the Kampar MP said when debating the Supplementary Supply Bill 2024 at the committee stage in the Dewan Rakyat here yesterday.
The settlement agreement signed in August 2020 between the Malaysian government and Goldman Sachs required the US investment bank to pay US$2.5bil (RM11.9bil at current rates) in cash payment and provide a US$1.4bil (RM6.6bil) asset recovery guarantee.
Interjecting, Datuk Awang Hashim (PN-Pendang) said if Chong wanted to know about the Goldman Sachs agreement, he could ask Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz, who was the finance minister at the time.
“He is now together with you in the government bloc,” said Awang.Earlier, Datuk Seri Takiyuddin Hassan (PN-Kota Baru) had cited Standing Order 23 (1) (g), arguing that any matter on trial by the courts could not be debated by the House because it might influence the outcome of the judgement.
However, Deputy Dewan Rakyat Speaker Datuk Ramli Mohd Nor ruled that the matter could be debated as long as Chong did not touch on the specific details of the 1MDB case.
