The High Court in Kuala Lumpur has delivered a decisive judgment in favour of sovereign wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) and its subsidiaries, ordering Eric Tan Kim Loong to return US$2.795 billion and Low May Lin, sister of controversial financier Jho Low, to surrender US$809,319. The court found both individuals had received funds misappropriated from 1MDB, describing the money as “tainted proceeds.”
The judgment in default was issued after both Tan and May Lin failed to respond to the civil lawsuit, neither appearing in court nor filing a defense. High Court judge Mahazan Mat Taib highlighted extensive evidence proving the funds were diverted through a complex web of transactions spanning 2009 to 2013, including phases labelled Good Star, Aabar, Tanore, and Options Buyback. The judge underscored that Jho Low, although holding no formal role within 1MDB, acted as an unofficial director and proxy for then Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who exercised effective control over the fund’s key financial decisions.
The court noted that 1MDB’s board and executives treated Low’s instructions as authoritative, facilitating the channeling of billions through entities linked to him. Tan, identified as a close associate and key conduit of Jho Low, was found to have intentionally received the funds into accounts tied to British Virgin Islands companies Alsen Chance Holdings Limited and Blackstone Asia Real Estate Partners Limited. The transactions’ size and complexity made any claim of innocence implausible.
Low May Lin, meanwhile, received four transfers totaling US$809,319 from her father, Tan Sri Larry Low Hock Peng, with no commercial basis. The judge characterized these payments as gratuitous, fitting a pattern of family-based concealment, and ruled that her enrichment was unjust and unconscionable.
The High Court further declared both Tan and May Lin as constructive trustees of the misappropriated funds, liable to return the sums along with 5 percent interest from the dates the funds were received. In addition, the court awarded RM500,000 in legal costs to 1MDB.
The judgment was supported by testimony from former 1MDB CEO Datuk Shahrol Azral Ibrahim Halmi and forensic experts from Kroll Advisory Ltd, alongside extensive documentary evidence including bank records, corporate documents, and detailed transaction charts tracing the siphoned money.
The ruling forms part of a broader civil action initiated by 1MDB and its subsidiaries against Jho Low, his immediate family, and associates, aimed at recovering billions misappropriated from Malaysia’s sovereign investment fund through complex international networks and offshore structures.
This decision reinforces the court’s stance on accountability for funds diverted from public institutions and sets a precedent for tracing and recovering assets misappropriated by individuals in positions of influence.
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