KUALA LUMPUR: The Wall Street Journal’s Tom Wright has slammed Low Taek Jho for labelling a write-up on the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal as ‘hastily published’.
“Hastily published? It was three years of our lives!” tweeted Wright who co-authored the book, Billion Dollar Whale, which contained the write-up, with Bradley Hope.
Earlier on his website, the fugitive mogul, who is known as Jho Low, had described the book as “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 on Low’s website.
“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.”
The statement also claimed that the authors had written about celebrities, models and parties linked to the matter without proving any of their 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,” it said.
In its review the Financial Times said the authors “occasionally get carried away”.
“One thing is clear. If ever Hollywood gets round to telling the story on screen, here is perfect material for the script,” it said.