International fugitive Jho Low was sentenced in absentia to 10 years in Kuwait for his role in laundering no less than $1 billion related to $4.5 billion stolen from a Malaysian sovereign wealth fund generally known as 1MDB, according to reports.
The billion dollars laundered in Kuwait was paid in Chinese currency, so it remained outside the US banking system – “and beyond the reach of the Department of Justice and its investigators,” a source close to the matter told The Post.
The son of the previous Kuwaiti prime minister, Sheikh Sabah Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, and a third man who attended Low’s prestigious business school in Wharton, Hamad Al Wazan, were also sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Two other men were also sentenced Bachar Kiwan, who now lives in Paris and was given 10 years, and Kuwaiti lawyer Saud Abdelmohsan, who was sentenced to seven years.
It is not known whether any of the convicts will serve their sentences. Low is now believed to be living in China under the protection of Beijing.
“The decision shows that the Kuwaiti authorities are serious about prosecuting money laundering, even when it is committed by individuals related to high-ranking officials,” a source told the Post. ”
The Latest York Post first reported Low and Al Wazan in 2009.
Few have used the stolen Malaysian money to buy art, real estate, diamonds and designer clothes and purses for people including actor Leo DiCaprio and former models Miranda Kerr and Kate Upton. As well as, Low invested stolen 1MDB funds in Hollywood movies resembling The Wolf of Wall Street.
The news of Low’s conviction in Kuwait comes as Grammy Award-winning musician Pras Michel faces trial in Washington this week, in part for allegedly taking $100 million in stolen money from Low and using it for various criminal intrigues.
These include an alleged lobbying campaign to stop the Department of Justice from investigating Low and, individually, to get the U.S. government to “return” a Chinese exile and ally of Steve Bannon named Miles Kwok or Guo Wengui to China.
The federal government recently arrested Guo in Latest York and charged him with orchestrating a separate $1 billion scam.
Michel and Guo maintain their innocence.