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Is Saifuddin calling us liars on Jho Low's whereabouts, asks journo

Is Saifuddin calling us liars on Jho Low's whereabouts, asks journo

Last Friday, investigative journalists Tom Wright (left) and Bradley Hope claimed in a YouTube video that Low Taek Jho was living in Shanghai, China, with a fake Australian passport.
PETALING JAYA : An investigative journalist has questioned whether home minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail was calling him and a fellow journalist liars after they reported that fugitive financier Low Taek Jho was residing in Shanghai, China.
'Is he calling us liars?' Tom Wright said in a post on X.
He was referring to Saifuddin earlier saying that police have yet to find any credible evidence to support claims that Low, better known as Jho Low, is residing in China with a fake Australian passport.
Saifuddin said Malaysian authorities were working closely with international enforcement agencies to verify Low's exact whereabouts.
In a YouTube video last Friday, Wright and fellow journalist Bradley Hope said they had gathered evidence from various sources and newly uncovered documents which showed that Low was living in a mansion in Green Hills, an 'ultra high-end neighbourhood' in Shanghai.
They added that Low was using a fake Australian passport under the Greek name 'Constantinos Achilles Veis' to hide his identity.
Hope and Wright also claimed that Low was now working as a 'behind-the-scenes strategist for the Chinese government'. His role allegedly includes helping sanctioned companies from China 'navigate difficulties around the world'.
Hope and Wright are former Wall Street Journal journalists who broke many of the key early 1MDB stories and co-wrote the book 'Billion Dollar Whale' about the scandal on the Malaysian sovereign fund.
Meanwhile, netizens also took aim at the government over its response to the revelation by Wright and Hope.
One user on X suggested that the government was still working off dial-up internet, to which Wright commented: 'Please fax us'.
Another netizen said that Saifuddin should be working closely with Wright and his team.
When another X user said the pair had not presented verified evidence for the claims, Wright referred to the YouTube video uploaded last week.
'Does verified mean it has to come from a government?' Wright asked.
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