It seems that Jasmine Loo Ai Swan, a Jho Low associate who stole $16 million from 1MDB, has decided to return home after eight years as a fugitive. She has been arrested in Kuala Lumpur and is now cooperating with the police. In March 2015, Sarawak Report revealed Loo’s crucial role in the theft from Najib’s development fund, where she simultaneously worked as an in-house counsel for Sarawak’s UBG Bank and as an in-house counsel and ‘Executive Director of Group Strategy’ at 1MDB. During this time, 1MDB invested $1.803 billion in PetroSaudi, a previously unknown Saudi oil company, which then unexpectedly bought UBG. This raised questions about whether 1MDB’s funds were used to buy a company owned by Jho Low and Abdul Taib Mahmud. Leaked documents from the PetroSaudi database confirmed the collaboration between PetroSaudi directors and Jho Low, Loo, and another associate, Nik Faisal Kamil, in a scheme called Project Uganda. Despite the scandal, Loo retained her position as Executive Director of Investments at UBG and later became CEO of the scandalous 1MDB subsidiary SRC. Through further leaks, it was discovered that Nik Faisal had also been named the manager of Najib’s domestic accounts, which he used to transfer funds from SRC. Loo, along with Jho Low and Nik Faisal, went into hiding after the original reports were published. Loo’s involvement in 1MDB’s thefts extended beyond her legal role. She was appointed a key signatory for the Tanore Finance Company, which transferred funds from 1MDB’s Goldman Sachs bond issues to Najib’s personal bank account. Loo attended meetings in London, Los Angeles, and New York where the collaborators planned their scheme. During this time, she also became part of Jho Low’s social circle, attending parties with celebrities in various locations around the world. Loo disappeared after Sarawak Report’s publication of the PetroSaudi papers and chose to hide in Macau, where Jho Low’s entourage sought refuge. Last year, an attempt was made to strike a deal with the Malaysian government to give the gang immunity in exchange for money, but it fell through. With their options running out, Loo and her associates became desperate. Kok Thiam, another member of Jho Low’s gang, was recently detained in Macau.
