By Malaysiakini
Recently arrested former 1MDB executive Jasmine Loo wants to assist authorities in expediting asset recovery efforts related to the scandal, said her lawyers.
Amer Hamzah Arshad and Edmund Bon, who are acting for Loo, who is currently in custody, said it was their client’s priority to cooperate with law enforcement.
“She also looks forward to reuniting with her family as soon as possible,” the two added in a statement today.
“Our client has always treated Malaysia as her home.
“When appropriate, she will reveal the facts and circumstances surrounding her years away from Malaysia,” they also said.
Full trust
Yesterday the government announced that Loo, who is 1MDB’s former executive director of group strategy, had been arrested on Friday.
Her lawyers said the Loo had full trust in the Malaysian judicial and legal system and will face “all matters accordingly”.
They also said that their client requested privacy and space “to do what is necessary”.
Yesterday, during a press conference, Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail announced that police have arrested Loo, an alleged associate of fugitive businessperson Low Taek Jho (Jho Low), who was purportedly involved in the 1MDB scandal.
The minister said that she was arrested last Friday and that her lawyer had told authorities that she was ready to cooperate with the police and government in their investigations into 1MDB.
Saifuddin said Loo was arrested in Kuala Lumpur and taken to the Dang Wangi district police headquarters, with the police obtaining a remand order against her on Saturday.
He explained that the investigation is being conducted under section 409 of the Penal Code.
Saifuddin, however, declined to elaborate further about the circumstances surrounding Loo’s arrest apart from stressing that she was arrested.
Not privy
The minister also said that he was also not privy to the progress of the investigation, including whether Loo has disclosed any information about Low.
Loo was alleged to be in Low’s inner circle.
She was also alleged to have been a recipient of the misappropriated 1MDB funds.
According to the US Department of Justice, Loo received US$5 million (RM23.2 million) from the Aabar-BVI phase of the 1MDB scandal, and US$10 million (RM46.5 million) during the Tanore phase.
Loo, a law graduate, was one of the suspects wanted by authorities to facilitate a probe into the troubled state investment arm.
The authorities, however, had not been successful to locate her until Friday’s breakthrough.
Second associate
It was unclear if Loo had just returned from overseas when police picked her up.
Loo is the second associate of Low to be arrested by Malaysian authorities of late.
In May, the MACC arrested Kee Kok Thiam, an alleged associate of Low, after he was deported by Macau authorities for overstaying his visa.
He arrived at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport at 3am on May 3, where he was ordered to go to the MACC’s headquarters at 10am on the same day.
Al Jazeera reported that Kee told the MACC he had met Low and other 1MDB fugitives – including Eric Tan Kim Loong, Casey Tang Keng Chee, Geh Choh Heng, and Nik Faisal Ariff Kamil – in Macau.
He also reportedly said Low had instructed him “not to return to Malaysia as a witness in the 1MDB case”.
Kee later died on May 29 when receiving treatment for an illness at a hospital, which sparked speculations on the circumstances leading to his death.
However, his family later issued a statement saying that the 56-year-old businessperson died in hospital after suffering a “sudden massive stroke” and urged the public not to speculate.
