Forfeit 7.35 carat diamond rings and over 3 carat diamond ear rings, Jho Low

The alleged mastermind of the 1MDB fund scandal Low Taek Jho have been ordered by a US federal judge to forfeit diamond rings and diamond ear rings.

Yesterday, a federal court judge in Los Angeles ordered the fugitive financier, infamously known as Jho Low to surrender claims to a 7.35 carat diamond ring as well as matching diamond earrings which was bigger than 3 carats.

The judge ruled that the items were purchased using funds derived from looting of billions of dollars from 1MDB. The ring is valued at about US$1.17 million and the earrings are worth about US$628,000, the US says.

The three diamonds were created by prestigious New York-based designer Lorraine Schwartz, who US prosecutors said also made a US$23 million necklace – with a pink diamond big enough to be a paperweight – and personally delivered it to Rosmah Mansor, the wife of former prime minister Najib Razak, according to court testimony in the US.

US district judge Dale Fischer in Los Angeles described the diamonds as a gift from Low to his mother Evelyn and ruled that the jewels were “criminal proceeds” of the 1MDB fraud.

Jho Low remains a fugitive in US and Malaysia even though he reached a deal with the Justice Department in June to return over US$100 million of assets that the government asserted was acquired using 1MDB funds.

Low was first charged along with former Golden Sachs Group Inc banker Roger Ng who was convicted at a trial two years ago.

In a related development, former 1MDB lawyer Jasmine Loo was ordered to forfeit a Pablo Picasso pencil sketch drawing titled Trois Femmes Nues et Buste d’Homme that was purchased for US1.4 million.

Loo who testified against former premier Datuk Seri Najib Razak this year also agreed to surrender US$25,000 held in a Swiss bank, reported FMT.