It’s been a week since federal charges were filed against Honolulu resident Nickie Lum Davis, and national media have been slow to pick up the story. But it has certainly made news in Malaysia, where the saga of the missing billions from a government investment fund has been hot political news for years.

The Wall Street Journal and NY Times have covered the Jho Low story in depth before (links in Friday’s post), and I expect we’ll see more of their reporting soon.

[Note: The WSJ published a story today (8/24/2020), Aruna Viswanatha and Rebecca Ballhaus, “New Details Revealed of RNC Fundraiser’s Lobbying for China,Court case details work of Elliott Broidy and the alleged fraud mastermind who paid him to lobby the Trump administration“.

But for now, here’s what I found in an online search Sunday afternoon.

“The Hawaii Connection – How Jho Low Secretly Lobbied Trump For Najib Over 1MDB!,” SarawakReport.org, August 21, 2020.

Malaysia’s convicted former prime minister, Najib Razak, has argued first that the global fugitive Low Taek Jho had nothing to do with 1MDB and then more recently that he was ‘duped’ by the conman, who helped funnel nearly $5 billion out of the fund and into Najib’s political campaigns and personal accounts.

However, the latest criminal indictment brought by US prosecutors in Hawaii is likely to make that already unconvincing line of defence even harder to sustain for the ex-PM, currently facing his second trial following his conviction in the first.

The reason being that the case against a well-known local political lobbyist, 45-year-old Nickie Mali Lum Davis, shows that it was none other than Jho Low who was directly involved in paying a group of Republicans to organise Najib’s high profile trip to Washington in September 2017 to visit President Donald Trump, as part of a concerted strategy to force the Department of Justice to drop its cases over 1MDB.

After Jho Low fixed the trip, paid the lobbyists $8 million for their services and set in motion plans to shelve the case, Najib duly turned up in Washington to beguile President Trump with promises of massive Malaysian investment in the American economy (making sure to occupy the Trump Hotel with scores of his extended entourage for several nights).

“DOJ says Jho Low got Chinese Minister to meet Trump lobbyists in attempt to extradite dissident to China,” TheEdgeMarkets.com, August 22, 2020.

Jho Low’s tentacles go far and wide. A US Department of Justice indictment against a Trump lobbyist who was paid by Jho Low to fix the 1MDB problem and to arrange a 2017 meeting between Datuk Seri Najib Razak and President Donald Trump has unveiled that the fugitive also had close ties with powerful people in Beijing….

The criminal complaint in the District Court of Hawaii, filed on Aug 17, revealed that Low’s lobbying efforts went beyond 1MDB and extended into China.

Michel, Broidy and Davis met with Low in Bangkok on May 2, 2017. Days later, Michel was paid US$8.5 million, Broidy was paid US$6 million and Davis was paid US$1.7 million.

The funds were transferred on Low’s instructions through a Hong Kong entity with Michel acting as an intermediary to ensure the money was cleaned and could not be traced to illegal sources.

While Low had asked for lobbying help to drop the 1MDB case and also to arrange a meeting for then prime minister Najib with Trump, he concurrently also lobbied for China’s interest — for the deportation of Chinese dissident Guo Wengui. Guo is referred to as “PRC National A”.

The criminal complaint said that around two weeks after the first meeting in Bangkok, Davis, Michel and Broidy travelled to Hong Kong to meet Low again, who was this time accompanied by a minister of China.

“THE SEEDY WORLD OF NAJIB & JHO LOW – US$8 MILLION JUST TO LOBBY FOR A CHANCE TO BEG TRUMP TO LET HIM OFF THE 1MDB HOOK – BUT BY THEN EVEN TRUMP GOT SCARED OF NAJIB’S STINK & CANCELLED ‘MOST EXPENSIVE EVER GOLF GAME’,” Malaysia-Chronicle.com, August 23, 2020.

It was Pras Michel who allegedly approached the Hawaiian lobbyist Nickie Lum Davis (whose parents were themselves previously found guilty of illegal campaign contributions) and in turn Ms Lum approached the Deputy Chairman of the Republican National Committee, Elliot Broidy. According to the court filing issued on 20th August in Hawaii:

In or about March 2017, DAVIS told Person B [Elliot Broidy] that she had a possible client in Malaysia who could “use help with the forfeiture.” [over 1MDB]

Broidy agreed to help in return for an $8 million up front retainer and a “$75 million success fee if the “matter” was resolved within 180 days“. A contract was then drawn up with the law firm of Broidy’s wife Robyn Broidy on the basis that she would be representing Jho Low legally in the case. However prosecutors allege:

“In actuality, [the law firm] provided no litigation services or legal advice to Foreign National A. The true purpose of the retention agreement was to secure [Broidy’s] services to lobby the administration and DOJ on [Jho Low’s] behalf based on [Elliot Broidy’s] political connections.”

Broidy then set about trying to use his influence on behalf of Jho Low, having texted Lum Davies that “I’m excited about our business prospects.”

“Criminal case against US lobbyist reveals Jho Low’s link to China minister,” malaysiaKini.com, August 22, 2020

Also see:

“A criminal complaint was filed this week alleging Nickie Mali Lum Davis failed to register to lobby WH for Malaysia to drop 1MDB charges & for China to extradite Guo Wengui,” Twitter thread by independent journalist Wendy Siegelman, who has been tracking this case for several years.

“Billion Dollar Whale: The Man Who Fooled Wall Street, Hollywood, and the World,” by Tom Wright and Bradley Hope, a book which puts the Broidy-Davis deal into a broader tale.