(MENAFN- Arab Times) For the past year, the Malaysian government has said a company called Good Star Ltd, which received $1.03 billion from the scandal-hit 1MDB investment fund, was owned by the fund's joint venture partner, PetroSaudi International Ltd. Now an official with knowledge of a regulatory investigation has confirmed what Malaysia's central bank has recently asserted: Malaysian financier Low Taek Jho was the sole owner of Good Star during its five years as a company.
"What I can say for sure is that Jho Low is the exclusive beneficial owner of Good Star," the official said. According to a registration document seen by Reuters, Good Star was incorporated in the Seychelles on May 18, 2009, four months before the initial payment to PetroSaudi. It was dissolved five years later on May 2, 2014. Low, who is most often referred to as Jho Low, was the owner of Good Star throughout those five years, the official said. Both Low, and the government have denied he had anything to do with 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), a fund Prime Minister Najib Razak founded in September 2009 to invest in strategic property and energy projects.
Malaysian companies and banks linked to 1MDB are at the centre of corruption and money laundering probes that have led investigators to look at transactions and fi nancial relationships across the globe € from Malaysia to Singapore and the Seychelles, from Abu Dhabi to offshore companies in the Caribbean, and from the United States to Switzerland. Investigations are being conducted by authorities in the United States, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Singapore, and the United Arab Emirates.
Unravelling the status of Good Star's ownership is important, investigators say, because it will help determine whether 1MDB's funds were misappropriated or used for legitimate investments, as the government maintains. If Low is the sole owner of Good Star, it could indicate that 1MDB funds were not directed to an energy project investment with PetroSaudi but for another purpose, investigators say. The 34-year-old Low has not been charged with any offence in the investigations into 1MDB. He did not reply to requests for comment that were directed to his private equity and advisory firm in Hong Kong, Jynwel Capital, and his whereabouts could not be determined.
Najib, who was the chairman of 1MDB's advisory board until recently, has denied any wrongdoing. The Prime Minister's offi ce did not respond to requests for comment about Good Star for this article. 1MDB and the Malaysian fi nance ministry, which is the sole shareholder of the fund, declined to comment. PetroSaudi was founded in 2005 by Saudi businessman Tarek Essam Ahmad Obaid, a graduate of Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, the company's website says.
PetroSaudi and Obaid did not respond directly when asked if the fi rm owned Good Star. The London-based law fi rm of Carter-Ruck, speaking on behalf of Petro- Saudi, said in an emailed statement: "Our clients categorically deny any wrongdoing in relation to the Joint Venture with 1MDB, and they have made clear that all funds invested by 1MDB in the Joint Venture were returned, with profits." Good Star's ownership continues to be a matter of debate in Malaysia. The head of Malaysia's parliamentary inquiry into 1MDB last month denied Low was the owner of Good Star. He did so in explaining why he rejected a letter from Malaysia's central bank saying that Low, indeed, was the owner.
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