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A new U.S. clemency filing shows fugitive financier Jho Low has sought a presidential pardon, according to a report by The Japan Times. The report says the application appears in the U.S. Department of Justice pardon system and is listed as pending.
Key developments
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The request is tied to Low’s U.S. criminal case, where prosecutors charged him in 2018 in connection with the multibillion-dollar 1MDB scandal, as summarized by The Japan Times. U.S. authorities have long alleged that at least $4.5 billion was siphoned from Malaysia’s sovereign fund through related schemes.
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The filing status is reported as pending. That matters because DOJ’s clemency process distinguishes open petitions from granted or denied outcomes; a pending entry means the case is active in the review pipeline, not approved. DOJ explains these status categories on its Search for a Case page.
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Low remains a fugitive and has previously denied wrongdoing, according to the same report. No public announcement indicates that a final clemency decision has been made.
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Procedurally, DOJ’s clemency FAQ states that clemency decisions are ultimately made by the president, and applications can remain open across administrations unless formally resolved.
Timeline-wise, the key sequence is straightforward: U.S. charges were filed in 2018; the new pardon application is now visible in DOJ records in 2026; current status is pending.
What to watch
The immediate next signal is whether the petition status changes in DOJ records from pending to granted, denied, or administratively closed. Until that shift appears, the legal posture in the U.S. case does not appear to have changed.
A second point to watch is whether U.S. authorities, the White House, or Low’s legal representatives issue a direct statement clarifying the scope of the petition and what relief is being requested. Publicly available clemency entries are often brief, and major details can emerge only through later official comment or court-related filings.
Sources
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