On the search for Jho Low’s 1MDB-financed superyacht
Now that US authorities are seeking to seize a variety of assets purchased with allegedly embezzled money from Malaysia’s state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), attention has turned to the by far most valuable item: An opulent superyacht owned by Jho Low, a Malaysian business fixer close to Prime Minister Najib Razak and one of the main suspects in the 1MDB scandal.
The yacht, built in 2014 and mischievously called “Equanimity,” is huge, about 92 meters long, 15 meters wide and has a gross tonnage of 2,998 tonnes. She can carry 28 crew members and up to 18 guests, sails under the flag of the Cayman Islands and has the call sign ZGDQ,
Her whereabouts are currently unknown. According to marine tracking sites Vessel Finder and MarineTraffic, the yacht has made the passage between Singapore and Batam eastwards on June 6 and was later located off the southern shores of Cambodia’s northern Koh Rong island west of Sihanoukville in the Gulf of Thailand on June 13.
This was three days before the US Department of Justice announced its latest action. Since then, the Equanimity hasn’t sent any identification signals.
The US authorities allege that the ship had been built and maintained using over $250 million misappropriated from 1MDB and say they can prove the respective money trail through Low’s multiple bank accounts. They are now seeking a civil forfeiture of the yacht.
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[caption id="attachment_30095" align="alignleft" width="300"] The Equanimity's position on June 13 (Click to enlarge)[/caption] Now that US authorities are seeking to seize a variety of assets purchased with allegedly embezzled money from Malaysia's state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), attention has turned to the by far most valuable item: An opulent superyacht owned by Jho Low, a Malaysian business fixer close to Prime Minister Najib Razak and one of the main suspects in the 1MDB scandal. The yacht, built in 2014 and mischievously called "Equanimity," is huge, about 92 meters long, 15 meters wide and has a gross tonnage of 2,998...
Now that US authorities are seeking to seize a variety of assets purchased with allegedly embezzled money from Malaysia’s state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), attention has turned to the by far most valuable item: An opulent superyacht owned by Jho Low, a Malaysian business fixer close to Prime Minister Najib Razak and one of the main suspects in the 1MDB scandal.
The yacht, built in 2014 and mischievously called “Equanimity,” is huge, about 92 meters long, 15 meters wide and has a gross tonnage of 2,998 tonnes. She can carry 28 crew members and up to 18 guests, sails under the flag of the Cayman Islands and has the call sign ZGDQ,
Her whereabouts are currently unknown. According to marine tracking sites Vessel Finder and MarineTraffic, the yacht has made the passage between Singapore and Batam eastwards on June 6 and was later located off the southern shores of Cambodia’s northern Koh Rong island west of Sihanoukville in the Gulf of Thailand on June 13.
This was three days before the US Department of Justice announced its latest action. Since then, the Equanimity hasn’t sent any identification signals.
The US authorities allege that the ship had been built and maintained using over $250 million misappropriated from 1MDB and say they can prove the respective money trail through Low’s multiple bank accounts. They are now seeking a civil forfeiture of the yacht.
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