DOJ investigating whether fugitive Jho Low paid legal team with laundered funds

The legal team includes former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and President Donald Trump's longtime lawyer Marc Kasowitz

From left: Chris Christie, Jho Low, Marc Kasowitz and Park Lane Hotel at 36 Central Park South (Credit: Getty Images and Park Lane New York)
From left: Chris Christie, Jho Low, Marc Kasowitz and Park Lane Hotel at 36 Central Park South (Credit: Getty Images and Park Lane New York)

The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating whether a legal team, which includes former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and President Trump’s longtime lawyer Marc Kasowitz, were paid by Malaysian fugitive Jho Low using laundered funds.

Low, who is an investor in the Park Lane hotel in Manhattan, was separately charged earlier this week on eight counts in connection with 1 Malaysia Development Bhd., a multibillion dollar sovereign wealth fund Low is alleged to have stolen from between 2009 and 2015.

Prosecutors allege he stole $4.5 billion from 1MDB, investing some of the funds in U.S. real estate. Authorities moved to seize the Park Lane through a civil forfeiture action in 2016, but have since cut a deal with developer and co-owner Steve Witkoff to sell the building and place Low’s cut in escrow while it continues to investigate him.

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In addition to Christie and Kasowitz, other members of Low’s legal team mentioned in court documents filed by prosecutors include Bobby Burchfield, an outside ethics lawyer for the Trump Organization; and Ed Rogers, a Republican-aligned Washington lobbyist.

The court filings, which state that Low laundered millions through two associates, do not draw a link that suggest the legal team was aware of the source of the funds. [WSJ] — David Jeans