KUALA LUMPUR (July 3): As the US prepares to celebrate its 250th Independence Day, a report has indicated that fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho (Jho Low), the alleged mastermind behind the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) embezzlement scandal, may receive a pardon from President Donald Trump.
According to The Atlantic in a report on Monday, Low is among a group of 250 people that the White House is weighing to pardon to mark the anniversary under a mass clemency initiative dubbed “250 pardons for 250 years”.
However, a White House official has issued a statement disputing the report, stating: “While the President is the final decision maker on all pardons, these individuals are not on the radar of the pardon team.”
The Wall Street Journal first reported earlier in May that Low had formally requested for a pardon from Trump, citing US Department of Justice’s records. The news agency, citing the DOJ's website, said the request by Low was to seek a “pardon after completion of sentence” and the status of his request was still “pending”. If granted, the executive clemency would effectively dismiss all criminal proceedings against Low within the US justice system.
Charged by the US in 2018 for conspiring to launder billions of dollars siphoned from 1MDB, Low remains at large. Investigators allege he distributed about US$2 billion in illicit payments to foreign officials, including former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
Amid the reports, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has dismissed the matter as a “non-issue” for Malaysia. While stressing that US’ judicial decisions are its own business, he said Malaysia would not entertain any pardon application involving Low.
Low faces 15 criminal counts related to money laundering and criminal breach of trust linked to 1MDB in Malaysia. In July 2022, news broke that Low’s representatives had approached the Malaysian government, offering RM1.5 billion as settlement in exchange for dropping the criminal charges against him. This was flatly refused by the government.
Up until early 2015, Low was living a high profile, flamboyant lifestyle, partying with Hollywood celebrities while he scooped up luxurious real estate properties and expensive artworks, and sailed his superyacht. But he gradually stopped making public appearances following the exposé on 1MDB. Though he had been reportedly spotted in Macau, Hong Kong and mainland China in the aftermath of the 1MDB scandal, he continues to elude the authorities despite multiple arrest warrants and Interpol Red Notices having been issued against him; not only in Malaysia but also in Singapore, where he is also wanted for alleged offences under their banking system.
Najib, meanwhile, has been in jail since August 2022, serving half of a 12-year term he was sentenced to for misappropriating RM42 million from SRC International, a former 1MDB subsidiary, following a partial pardon in 2024. A RM210 million fine imposed on him was also reduced to RM50 million. He is now appealing a December 2025 graft conviction involving RM2.3 billion in 1MDB funds, for which he has sentenced to another 15 years in jail and fined over RM11 billion.
Rapper Pras Michel of the hip-hop group Fugees, who was convicted in 2023 for conspiring with Low to illegally lobby US officials to drop 1MDB-linked investigations, is reportedly also slated for a possible pardon. In November 2025, he was sentenced to 14 years in jail.