Indonesia Returns $250M Yacht To Malaysia

[Chiron]

In this recent news story from Time, the Malaysian prime minister has thanked President Jokowi for returning the $250 million yacht "Equanimity" back to the Malaysian government. Once belonging to Mr. Jho Low who has been seen with celebrities like Lindsey Lohan and Paris Hilton.

As I read this story, there just seems to be much more to the story than is meeting the eye. I try to steer clear of conspiracy theories, but this one just has lots of questions around it.

1. Why did the US Federal Bureau of Investigation help the Indonesian government to seize this boat?
2. Why did the Indonesian government allow such a joint operation?
3. There are lots of questions about the 1MDB fund, and the list of people who received ill gotten funds.
4. And where is Jho Low now? Interesting to note, Mr. Low is still claiming no wrongdoing.
5. Now that the Malaysian government has the yacht, who is going to buy this thing to help offset the losses of the 1MDB fund?

Just plain weird...

 

[Davita]

In this recent news story from Time, the Malaysian prime minister has thanked President Jokowi for returning the $250 million yacht "Equanimity" back to the Malaysian government. Once belonging to Mr. Jho Low who has been seen with celebrities like Lindsey Lohan and Paris Hilton.

As I read this story, there just seems to be much more to the story than is meeting the eye. I try to steer clear of conspiracy theories, but this one just has lots of questions around it.

1. Why did the US Federal Bureau of Investigation help the Indonesian government to seize this boat?
2. Why did the Indonesian government allow such a joint operation?
3. There are lots of questions about the 1MDB fund, and the list of people who received ill gotten funds.
4. And where is Jho Low now? Interesting to note, Mr. Low is still claiming no wrongdoing.
5. Now that the Malaysian government has the yacht, who is going to buy this thing to help offset the losses of the 1MDB fund?

Just plain weird...

1. The boat was purchased using funds from 1MDB which has abrogated USA Financial Services act by using US Dollars.
"In legalese, what is being argued [by Low] is that the DoJ does not have jurisdiction over the matter because there is nothing that 'links' it to the US and therefore brings it within the jurisdiction of the US," Adam Ramlugon, managing partner for Bargate Murray explains. "I would imagine one way in which they might argue they have jurisdiction would be that the allegedly misappropriated funds were (or are) denominated in dollars, meaning they will have had to have gone through a US clearing bank at one time or another. This could be used to found an argument that the 'dirty' money was subject to US jurisdiction at that time, which entitles them to carry out the sort of multi-jurisdictional asset tracing exercise they are now embarking on."
Maybe should have considered using bitcoins to buy.

2. The yacht was cruising within Indonesian Territorial waters without identifying itself. The RI Maritime police have every right to investigate such matters.

3. N/A not a question.

4. They think he's in China. PM Mahathir is visiting China and it's reporting he will ask for Low's extradition.

5. It is up for sale and prospective buyers are already viewing the yacht...could be a good deal.

The Malaysian Govt. is already selling the aircraft that Jho Low has said is his...the Gov't have invited him to return to show the title documents of authenticity.....fat chance!

 

[snpark]

The 2 happiest days in a yacht owners life are the day they buy it and the day they sell it

 

[Chiron]

The 2 happiest days in a yacht owners life are the day they buy it and the day they sell it

One yacht owner I know told me the meaning of B.O.A.T.

Break
Out
Another
Thousand

 

[Chiron]

1. The boat was purchased using funds from 1MDB which has abrogated USA Financial Services act by using US Dollars.
"In legalese, what is being argued [by Low] is that the DoJ does not have jurisdiction over the matter because there is nothing that 'links' it to the US and therefore brings it within the jurisdiction of the US," Adam Ramlugon, managing partner for Bargate Murray explains. "I would imagine one way in which they might argue they have jurisdiction would be that the allegedly misappropriated funds were (or are) denominated in dollars, meaning they will have had to have gone through a US clearing bank at one time or another. This could be used to found an argument that the 'dirty' money was subject to US jurisdiction at that time, which entitles them to carry out the sort of multi-jurisdictional asset tracing exercise they are now embarking on."
Maybe should have considered using bitcoins to buy.

2. The yacht was cruising within Indonesian Territorial waters without identifying itself. The RI Maritime police have every right to investigate such matters.

3. N/A not a question.

4. They think he's in China. PM Mahathir is visiting China and it's reporting he will ask for Low's extradition.

5. It is up for sale and prospective buyers are already viewing the yacht...could be a good deal.

The Malaysian Govt. is already selling the aircraft that Jho Low has said is his...the Gov't have invited him to return to show the title documents of authenticity.....fat chance!

Thanks - you're certainly up to date on this story!

 

[Davita]

Thanks - you're certainly up to date on this story!

I wrote here about this luxury yacht when it was first brought to Benoa. I thought maybe a little crowd-funding would get us a good deal but only a couple of members were willing to indulge...even after I said I'd commit Rp100,000 of my very own money....

 

[dafluff]

Why does the world even need a $250 million super yacht? I mean I'm all for capitalism and free market, etc. But this is obscene.

 

[Davita]

Why does the world even need a $250 million super yacht? I mean I'm all for capitalism and free market, etc. But this is obscene.

That's the point dafluff...it wasn't capitalism nor the free market that commissioned this yacht...it was crooks stealing other people's money.

Those who have purchased any Microsoft equipment may like to know they crowdfunded this yacht owned by Paul Allen...btw he has another one 'Tatoosh' moored somewhere.....

https://www.superyachtfan.com/superyacht_octopus.html

edit:
I just realized I wrote while tongue in cheek about those who buy big boats but omitted to say that Paul Allen is one of my heroes. He will go down in history as a great philanthropist of this generation. He suffered from Hodgkins Lymphoma and therefore was under great stress all while giving many billions he earned to charitable organisations. He has also used his big yachts to do many search and rescues and finding USS WW2 wrecks.
I'm just a little envious as the biggest boat I could afford was 50 feet...but my wife and I (plus our pommy dog) cruised from Olympia to Desolation Sound for over ten years...every summer.

 

[snpark]

Still funny

 

[jukung11]

2. The yacht was cruising within Indonesian Territorial waters without identifying itself. The RI Maritime police have every right to investigate such matters.

If a person does not properly declare the yacht and go through the procedure as a temporary stay, it can be considered imported and subject to a 75% luxury tax. I guess the Indonesian government decided this one wasn't worth the trouble and decided to just get rid of it. I'm glad they didn't blow it up like they did all the illegal fishing boats.

Also, some question where the $250 million price can come from. They tend to charter these super yachts to super wealthy individuals that only take a week or two vacation for $1,000,000 a week.

For those wanting to waste time and read the Justice Departments civil forfeiture complaint, you can read it here:
https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/973671/download

The Equanimity starts on page 191.

The summary of 1MDB according to the U.S. government. 1MDB was created for the benefit of the Malaysian people. They used fraud to divert the funds for personal use into bank accounts in the United States. Using fraud could be construed as bank fraud or wire fraud, which is a predicate offense for money laundering 18 USC 1956 and 1957. Some of the funds were also raised by bond offerings at a U.S. Bank. They were used to purchase a property in New York, "Park Lane". Low then sold some of his interest in the New York property and used the stolen funds to buy the boat. It would be a difficult argument to argue the United States does not have jurisdiction.

To those into this, it is a pretty fascinating case. It is the currently largest forfeiture case in the world. It is $100 million more than Madoff.