Jho Low 'higher authority' behind 1MDB offshore investment: Witness

1MDB TRIAL | A former banker with the defunct Singapore branch of BSI Bank testified that fugitive Low Taek Jho (Jho Low) was the "higher authority" who greenlighted Malaysian sovereign wealth fund 1MDB's controversial US$2.3 billion offshore investment.

Kevin Michael Swampillai told the High Court in Kuala Lumpur this afternoon that he observed Low greenlight the decision to invest the money in Brazen Sky Limited, which was carried out by several other individuals like former 1MDB chief financial officer (CFO) Azmi Tahir and his then deputy Terence Geh.

During today’s RM2.28 billion 1MDB corruption trial against Najib Abdul Razak, the 44th prosecution witness testified that this contrasted with his (Swampillai's) assumption that the then-prime minister had knowledge about...