A suspect in the 1MDB scandal, which involves Malaysian fugitive Jho Low, who was granted a Cypriot passport by the Anastasiades administration, has died weeks after being deported to Malaysia to face questioning over his role in the $4.5bn fraud.
According to Al Jazeera, Kee Kok Thiam died in hospital on Monday following a “sudden massive stroke” and was cremated on Wednesday morning, Kee’s family said in a statement.
News of Thiam’s death came hours after Al Jazeera reported that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) had confirmed that Low – the alleged mastermind of the 1MDB scandal – is in Macau.
The MACC said that Kee, who was deported from Macau earlier this month, revealed he had met with Low and other 1MDB fugitives in the Chinese territory and that Low had instructed him “not to return to Malaysia as a witness in the 1MDB case”.
Low and his associates are wanted for stealing billions of dollars from Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund. Low disappeared in 2016 as global authorities closed in on the case.
In September 2015 he was granted a Cypriot passport through the now-defunct Cyprus Citizenship by Investment scheme after investing in land on the island.
Former Cyprus Archbishop Chrysostomos said that he intervened with the government to grant Cypriot citizenship to Low. He also admitted that the Malaysian fugitive purchased a villa on Church-owned land and donated €300,000 to the Church of Cyprus.
Also, in June 2021, Low was charged by a federal grand jury for running a back-channel campaign to get the Trump administration to drop an investigation into him and the 1MDB investment company.
The revelation of Low’s case was instrumental in highlighting the abuse and corruption around the Cyprus ‘golden passports’ programme, which was used to grant citizenship to fugitives and politically exposed persons.
The Cyprus cabinet decided to revoke Low’s citizenship on May 18, 2023.
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Malaysian fugitive Jho Low stripped of Cypriot citizenship after public outcry