Jho Low's wife fails to get Cypriot citizenship - Report

KUALA LUMPUR: The wife of fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho or Jho Low, Jesselynn Chuan Teik Ying has failed to get Cypriot citizenship.

It was after Jesselynn applied for citizenship in 2019 by following in her husband's footsteps, to get asylum in the country.

According to a Malaysiakini report, through a joint investigation by Sarawak Report and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), a company in the United Kingdom (UK) helped Jho Low and his associates obtain Cypriot citizenship.

"Investigations have found that London-based Henley & Partners helped Jho Low to obtain Cypriot citizenship through its Cyprus-based partner, FidesCorp Services Limited.

"The company, however, denies Jho Low as their client.

"Henley & Partners received a payment and commission of US$710,000 (RM3.47 million). The company firmly denied that they acted inappropriately and blamed individual staff members for failing to follow procedure," it was quoted as saying by Malaysiakini on Tuesday.

Jho Low previously had a Cyprus passport in 2015 when he was linked to the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal which received worldwide attention, including from international investigative bodies.

In the meantime, the report added, the results of the investigation found that Jesselynn's application was rejected after Jho Low was linked to the scandal as well as the "citizenship-for-investment" scheme of the country was courting heavy scrutiny.

"By 2019, Low was one of the most famous fugitives in the world. But this didn’t prevent his Cypriot service providers from lending a helping hand yet again," the investigation said.

Meanwhile, according to the report, the Cyprus Orthodox Christian Church was also embroiled in the issue of Jho Low's passport.

It is alleged that Jho Low lobbied by promising to make certain contributions to the church.

Jho Low obtained the Cypriot passport through the Cyprus Investment Plan which requires an interested party to deposit five million euros in a Cypriot bank for three years and buy a permanent home worth at least US$500,000 (RM2.44 million).

He bought an unfinished villa worth five million euros (RM24.4 million) in Cyprus to fulfil the conditions on Sept 23, 2015.

According to documents obtained by Sarawak Report and OCCRP, Jho Low stated that the funds for the citizenship will be transferred from HSBC in Hong Kong.

On September 9, 2020, the Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Abdul Hamid Bador, said his department had tracked down several transactions made by Jho Low, among them to buy land in Cyprus.