KUALA LUMPUR: Low Taek Jho has dismissed a write-up on 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) in Billion Dollar Whale as an attempt at “instant history“, bereft of proof and before the case was even resolved.
Speaking through a media statement uploaded to his website, jho-low.com, the 36-year-old controversial businessman labelled the non-fiction book as hastily published and “guilt-by-lifestyle, and trial-by-media at its worst”.
“As reviewers and commentators from the Financial Times and Australian Financial Review, among others, have pointed out, this particular book is mostly about transactions undertaken by global financial institutions, sovereign wealth funds and the managers of 1MDB, all of whom were experienced in such transactions and knew exactly what they were doing,” said the statement.
“In fact, Mr Low seems to disappear from the narrative when any of the alleged fraud occurs, only to then be accused, without any evidence, of having been responsible for it.
“But, as The Financial Times noted, that sort of tale doesn’t sell books or get the authors a movie deal. Thus, this book is written with allegations disguised as fact and gossip passed off as legitimate reporting.”
He claimed that the book’s narrative was framed to allow the authors to write about celebrities, models and parties linked to the matter without ever proving any of the allegations.
“Rather than wait for the full facts surrounding this case to emerge, the authors chose to publish their tale while there are ongoing and unresolved proceedings in the US, and before a single piece of evidence has been produced before any court,” he said.
The book, penned by Bradley Hope and Tom Wright of the Wall Street Journal, is set for release tomorrow.