Jho Low, the alleged mastermind behind one of history's greatest financial frauds, has asked President Donald Trump for a pardon, according to The Wall Street Journal—a stunning gambit by a fugitive whose name became synonymous with global graft.
The request, filed in recent weeks, seeks to remove U.S. criminal charges against Low, the Malaysian financier who prosecutors say orchestrated the theft of $4.5 billion from 1MDB, a government-owned investment vehicle set up to promote economic growth. If granted, the pardon would erase his criminal liability in the United States, though he would still face charges in Malaysia and other jurisdictions.
A Justice Department website lists a pending "Pardon after Completion of Sentence" under Taek Jho Low filed this year. A White House official told the Journal that Low's request wasn't currently on the administration's radar—but Trump's expanded use of pardons in his second term has emboldened some to launch open clemency campaigns.
According to people familiar with the matter, Low has been positioning himself as a dealmaker. He claimed partial credit for a recent agreement in which Malaysia returned a Bangladeshi man accused of operating a child sexual exploitation enterprise to the United States—a claim that surprised some in Malaysia, who said he had nothing to do with the transfer.
Low has also been in talks with U.S. and Malaysian authorities about returning hundreds of millions of dollars in assets tied to the 1MDB fraud, funds that would go to the Justice Department for distribution to affected countries. In 2019, he surrendered more than in assets—including properties in , , and —in a civil forfeiture settlement. A 2024 settlement yielded more assets, but neither deal absolved him of criminal liability.
