Jho Low spent RM154 million on Singapore penthouse

Business magnate Low Taek Jho purchased two upscale apartments in Singapore including a triplex penthouse for S$54 million (RM154 million) to add to his luxury property portfolio, the Business Times (BT) reported.

The Singaporean business daily said Low bought the apartments in 2013, based on transactions involving Singapore-based Angullia Park Ltd, a shell company said to be linked to the businessman.

BT said the penthouse was the first of Low’s purchases. It was one of the two triple penthouses offered that the affluent TwentyOne Anguilla Park for around S$43 million. The other unit is still being held by developer China Sonangol Land.

The penthouse is 7,718sqft and Low is said to have paid S$5, 560 for every square foot of the property.

The second purchase is a 2,260sqft, three-bedroom apartment in the same development.

Low is linked to controversies surrounding government-owned strategic investment fund, 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), although he has denied the allegations against him.

Last year, The New York Times revealed that Low purchased a penthouse in Manhattan, New York, for US$24 million (RM85 million), which he resold to Riza Aziz, the stepson of Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, for over US$30 million.

Also in his US property portfolio is a Beverly Hills mansion in California, bought for US$17.5 million which is also sold to Riza and is now valued at US$39 million.

Low has been the focus of several exposés by whistleblower site Sarawak Report which has revealed his company Good Star Limited, which allegedly siphoned off millions from 1MDB, was found to have transferred over US$500 million to one of his accounts in Singapore.

Citing documents from the republic’s monetary authorities, it said the account was under the name of Abu Dhabi-Kuwait-Malaysia Investment Corporation (ADKMIC), of which Low was listed as the beneficial owner.

ADKMIC was the name of the company Low fronted in July 2008, which had previously engaged in the buy-up of a 53% shareholding in the Utama Banking Group (UBG), a company controlled by Tun Abdul Taib Mahmud's family, the report added.

This follows an earlier report that 1MDB had presented false bank statements to various authorities about the accounts of its subsidiary, Brazen Sky Limited, at the BSI branch in Singapore.

BSI Bank in Singapore is where Putrajaya has said a portion of the 1MDB funds repatriated from the Cayman Islands is being kept.

But Sarawak Report said separate sources in Singapore told it that "there is in fact no actual cash in the relevant 1MDB's BSI account, which was opened under the 1MDB subsidiary company, Brazen Sky Limited, merely 'paper assets' of indeterminate value."

In March, Low denied that he was the 1MDB mastermind and involved in money laundering and fraud in the troubled state investor.

In an exclusive with the South China Morning Post, Low said: “I feel I’m a victim in the crossfire of Malaysian politics, which is getting more polarised. I’m a target.” – April 29, 2015.