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High stakes, low odds: why 1MDB’s Jho Low unlikely to receive Trump pardon

Fugitive financier Jho Low’s request for a pardon from US President Donald Trump has reopened a central question left by Malaysia’s 1MDB scandal: whether the…

By Samantha Johnson / May 14, 2026
Fugitive financier Jho Low’s request for a pardon from US President Donald Trump has reopened a central question left by Malaysia’s 1MDB scandal: whether the man alleged to have helped orchestrate one of the world’s biggest financial frauds will ever face trial.
Analysts say the request appears unlikely to succeed because Low has never appeared in a US court, stood trial or accepted responsibility – and a pardon cannot erase charges he faces in Malaysia and Singapore.
But the attempt has still landed awkwardly in Kuala Lumpur, where Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s government is trying to recover stolen 1MDB assets while proving the country’s post-2018 anti-corruption reset has not lost momentum.

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The Malaysian, whose legal name is Low Taek Jho, filed an official request in recent weeks for a US presidential pardon that could wipe away criminal charges against him in the United States, the New York-based The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.

Jho Low attends the Social Good Summit in New York on September 21, 2014. Photo: Getty Images/AFP
Jho Low attends the Social Good Summit in New York on September 21, 2014. Photo: Getty Images/AFP

The US Justice Department website lists a pending request under his name for a “Pardon after Completion of Sentence”.

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