When one is accustomed to traveling by private jet, luxuriating aboard a superyacht, living in mansions and partying with rock stars, the prospect of life in a 7-by-10-foot prison cell can be pretty unappealing.
That may help explain why some of the most wanted fugitives in the world are people charged with financial crimes. The sentences for white-collar offenses can be severe, with U.S. federal guidelines calling for increased sentences based on the amount of money lost.
Given the choice between paying millions for a high-priced legal team to fight the charges and using those millions to continue living in the lap of luxury underground, these suspects allegedly chose to take the money and run.
The accused: Jho Low
The charges: Conspiracy, money laundering, impersonating a foreign agent
Alleged losses: $4.5 billion
Jho Low, C.E.O., Jynwel Captial Limited and Co-Director Jynwel Charitable Foundation Limited, speaks onstage during The New York Times Health For Tomorrow Conference at Mission Bay Conference Center at UCSF on May 29, 2014 in San Francisco, California.
Michael Loccisano | Getty Images
Malaysian national Low Taek Jho, more commonly known as Jho Low, is not accused of just any white-collar fraud.
Former FBI Supervisory Special Agent Bill McMurry calls it “one of the largest economic crimes in the history of the world.”
Low is accused of masterminding a plot to siphon billions from the Malaysian government through an investment fund known as 1Malaysia Development Berhad,…
