So far it has included a private jet, artworks by van Gogh and Picasso, Marlon Brando’s Oscar and Miranda Kerr’s diamonds, all of them among the assets apparently owned by Malaysian banker Low Taek Jho, or Jho Low for short.
The latest asset to cause a fuss is the good ship Equanimity, renowned in yachting circles and a one-time winner of the best in show award at the Monaco Yacht Show. The Equanimity was confiscated in Bali on February 28, and had been scheduled to be handed over to US authorities in April.
However, the US Justice Department is not having everything its own way in trying to get the $260 million yacht back to the US.
On April 17, an Indonesian court ruled that the seizure of the yacht was without legal basis. Since the yacht isn’t linked to any criminal case in Indonesia, and since there has been no court ruling that Jho Low has committed a crime, Indonesia claims there is no authority to seize the yacht.
It’s not clear where things go from here.
The boat, helipad and all, still sits in Bali harbour; the Equanimity displays an equanimity not shared by anything else in the world of 1MDB.