Cabinet decides to take away Jho Low's passport

The President’s Cabinet in the Republic of Cyprus decided on Thursday to revoke Jho Low’s Cypriot citizenship after gathering information from Interpol to argue against the Malaysian financier’s appeal to keep his citizenship.

According to the Cyprus News Agency, a “reliable source” told CNA that “when at the end of March the government saw that there was insufficient evidence to revoke the citizenship of the Malaysian wanted person, the Ministry of Interior contacted Interpol to gather the necessary evidence.”

Commonly known as Jho Low, Low Taek Jho is wanted by authorities around the world including Malaysia and Singapore in connection with financial fraud, after being accused of stealing billions from Malaysian sovereign wealth fund 1MDB.

Low obtained a Cypriot passport in 2015 through the island’s disgraced golden passport scheme just days after investing €5 million in a real estate property in Ayia Napa. The Malaysian financier obtained citizenship through an expedited process following letters sent by the late Archbishop Chrysostomos to the interior ministry.

But after a scandal broke and Cyprus revised its investment policies, including efforts to revoke citizenship for many foreign investors and their family members, Low filed an appeal with the Cypriot government during the previous administration objecting to giving up his passport.

But the Cabinet on Thursday decided to finally move ahead with stripping Low of his Cypriot citizenship, according to CNA.