5 New Things We Learned About Jho Low, 1MDB Scandal From 'Billion Dollar Whale' Author Tom Wright
Nicholas Chow
26/09/2018 09:53 MYT
26/09/2018 09:53 MYT
There's no closing this can of worms.
Wall Street Journal journalist Tom Wright was in town on Tuesday for a meet-and-greet session to promote 'Billion Dollar Whale', a book he co-authored with fellow jornalist Bradley Hope.The best-selling book provides an in-depth look into the 1MDB scandal and the alleged mastermind behind perhaps the greatest financial heist in history.
During his time here, Wright gave tonnes of insight about the scandal, as well as dirt on the man the book was largely based on, Malaysian financier turned fugitive Jho Low.
Since nobody has time to go through all the interesting tid bits, we took the liberty to round up all the new information Wright revealed during his time here. You're welcome.
Grab some popcorn, boys and girls:
#1 Rosmah Mansor allegedly gave Jho Low power in Putrajaya
According to Wright, the wife of former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, Rosmah Mansor, gave Jho Low "complete access" to the corridors of power when Najib was in office.
Through the relationship, Jho Low "gained the ear" of Najib, Wright told The New Straits Times.
Wright added that the connection was allegedly made through Rosmah's son Riza Aziz, whom Jho Low befriended at the elite Harrow School in London.
In exchange for the power, Wright claimed that Jho Low showered Rosmah with jewellery and cash.
#2 Jho Low hated to be alone
According to Wright, Jho Low was somebody who needed to have five cell phones and circle the globe in his private jet every couple of weeks.
It was almost as if that Jho Low is "very scared to stay still and to focus on anything for any one moment", Wright said.
Also, Wright revealed that Jho Low would wear old clothes and use a tattered backpack despite all the money he had.
#3 Senior government officials blew the whistle on the scandal
If you've been following the 1MDB scandal from day one, you'd know that two websites were credited for the exposé: The Sarawak Report and Wall Street Journal.
However, according to Wright, several senior Malaysian government officials were the ones who first alerted him to the entire scandal.
He told The New Straits Times that the officials were "household names" during Najib's tenure as Prime Minister, and they risked great personal danger to expose the wrongdoings.
These unnamed officials, Wright revealed, knew what was going on but they couldn't do anything about it, hence they 'supplied' WSJ with a lot of documents in the earlier stages.
#4 Playboy Playmates also played a role in the exposé
Wright revealed to The New Straits Times that he and Hope had to call more than 30 Playboy Playmates to get the dirt on one of Jho Low's insanely lavish parties.
(If you didn't already know about Jho Low's parties, here's a good article from Vice for you to brush up your knowledge.)
According to Wright, WSJ got hold of a contact book belonging to film production company Red Granite.
The contact book, Wright said, contained phone numbers of all the Hollywood stars that Jho Low and his friends liked to hang out with.
Out of the 30 Playboy Playmates that Wright and Hope called, two attended Jho Low's crazy birthday bash at The Palazzo, Las Vegas and provided the inside scoop for the book.
#5 The book was almost never released in Malaysia
Ever since the book was released a fortnight ago, it's turned into a big hit: copies of the book flew off the shelves and before we could say "I don't know where the money came from", it sold out.
While we're pretty sure both Wright and Hope are pleased with the response, the former mentioned that the book was almost never released in Malaysia.
Wright told The Star Online that they were forced to change the ending of the book because when they were writing the book, Najib was still the Prime Minister of Malaysia.
He revealed that they never thought 'Billion Dollar Whale' would ever be released in Malaysia, and they would be resorted to "selling copies from Changi Airport".