How Jho Low Pays For Rosmah's Shopping Sprees - EXPOSE! - Sarawak Report

How Jho Low Pays for Rosmah's Shopping Sprees - EXPOSE!
| Sarawak Report
28/7/15 5:29 PM
How Jho Low Pays for Rosmah's Shopping

Sprees - EXPOSE!
27 Jul 2015
Fancy coloured diamonds from New Yorks Louis Glick

http://www.sarawakreport.org/2015/07/how-jho-low-pays-for-rosmahs-shopping-sprees/
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How Jho Low Pays for Rosmah's Shopping Sprees - EXPOSE! | Sarawak Report
28/7/15 5:29 PM
are a particular favourite of Rosmahs
Sarawak Report has continued its enquiries into Rosmah Mansors

financial links with the controversial businessman Jho Low, whose
company siphoned nearly USD2 billion from the 1MDB PetroSaudi joint
venture in 2009.
Despite earlier denials, Sarawak Report has now accessed documents and
emails, which detail how Jho Low has provided payments for millions of
dollars worth of diamonds purchased by the Prime Ministers wife.
Payments were done through Hong Kong, using an account belonging to
a Jho Low owned company named Butamba Investments Limited at the
British bank RBS Coutts branch in Singapore.
The system, according to people who have sold to Rosmah, is generally
for Jho Low to pay an intermediary, who then pays the jeweller.
Previously this intermediary was Deepak
Jaikishan, who was once a trusted agent of
Mansors, but who later went public about his
role in silencing a witness in the Altantuya
murder case.
Natasha Mirpuri
Currently, the intermediary is confirmed to be the

Singaporean dress designer Natasha Mirpuri,
who now works with her husband Haresh
Mirpuri as the fixer for all Rosmahs precious
gem acquisitions.
The Mirpuris are now familiar faces at the various world jewellery shows
and they have created exclusive and profitable links with several
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international jewellers.
Sarawak Report has viewed numerous emails sent from and to Jho Low
relating to such payments, which are notoriously hard for jewellers to get
settled.
In one transfer, hundreds of thousands of dollars
can be seen as having been paid directly from Jho
Lows company to a known jeweller to settle
several items of diamond jewellery purchased by
Rosmah.
Another set of emails and receipts detail how Jho
Lows company paid a total of USD1 million to a
Jakarta trader, Deepak Topandasani, towards
purchases of Datins jewels.
Haresh Mirpuri now seen

regularly with his wife at
jewellery trade fairs
A further payment also of a million US dollars was directly made to an

Asian subsidiary of one of the worlds most exclusive jewellers in New
York, Louis Glick. Again the money came from the same company owned
by Low.
Usually, however, traders say it is Mirpuri who controls all transactions
and makes payments through Hong Kong. Jho Low in turn pays Mirpuri.
One one occasion Low told an intermediary:
She [Rosmah] has to realise it takes time, its not so easy to just
get the money quickly.
The system is frustrating and uncertain say traders, who are often made
to wait months to be paid for transactions. One Asia based jeweller told
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Sarawak Report:
It can take up to a year to get paid. You get paid in instalments
indirectly. She has the money of course, its just she is very
controlling and likes to make people wait, she is a control freak.
Another, who is based in Europe, confirmed:
We are waiting [on] their payments more than six months we
sold end August/Septemeber and we are still waiting and it is a
big amount. Its not like you can just phone her up. they are not
buying like before, she was a good customer but she is changing
now.
Given this further evidence gained from jewellers and insiders, Sarawak
Report believes it is time Malaysias first couple explained their
relationship with Jho Low, his role at 1MDB and where the money came
from in order to finance these enormously expensive purchases for the
PMs wife?
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Mixing business with family friendship. Jho Low (left) lines up with the
Directors of PetroSaudi and Malaysias first family at the outset of the
1MDB venture
Butamba Investments Limited

The payments accessed by Sarawak Report show that one company
regularly used by Jho Low to pay jewellers providing gems for Rosamah
was Butamba Investments Limited.
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One million dollars transferred to Rose Trading, the Hong Kong arm of
the New York jeweller Louis Glick
Jewellers say that more often than not Jho Low has funnelled funds more
indirectly, through Deepak Jaikishan and Natasha Mirpuri.
However, we have seen a number of receipts paid directly by Butamba
Investments, all relating to jewellery purchases by Rosmah, according to
related emails. An email related to the above telegraphic transfer record
read:
Fwd Payment advice to Rose Trading USD1,000,000
From: Lee Julia (RBS Coutts, SG)
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To: jho.low@gmail.com
Dear Mr Low,
Thanks Julia Lee (attachment)
Separately, an email relating to the below receipt was forwarded from
Jho Low and was titled Internal Transfer Fvg Deepak USD750,000:
Hi.please confirm receiving 1 million in total.. Datin is coming
to Hong Kong. Do you want to show her more goods?
Not to be confused with Deepak Jaikishan Jho Lows company

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Butamba transferred money to pay these jewellers in Jakarta

Research into Jho Lows company Wynton Capital by Malaysias premier
business paper The Edge has already established that Butamba
Investments Limited is the investment arm of Wynton Capital and was
listed as a shareholder of Iskandar Holdings, the company which
acquired a large chunk of controversial land in the Government backed
venture that has destroyed much of Malaysias remaining mangrove
forest and displaced native fishing communities.
The payments from Butamba Investments, along
with the related emails from Jho and testimony
from jewellers and insiders, seal the link between
Jho Low and highly expensive purchases of
jewellery by the Prime Ministers wife.
Another email sent to Jho Low and a jeweller,
who was awaiting settlement reads:
Colours attract the magpie

spenders
As per conversation with Jho Low he has informed he will do the

following. Your outstanding balance is now US$1,650,000.
Latest by 14th deposit US$750,000 and by end [of the month]
deposit US$900,000 (500 +400)..
Jho Low himself wrote several emails direct to jewellers, which we have
seen along the lines of the one quoted below:
From jho.low@gmail.com
cc yewchee.yak@rbscoutts.com
Subject: Wire transfer for jewellery
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I wish to confirm USDxxx,xxx is Ok. You should receive it late

tonight or tomorrow [we have been asked not to state the
amount to protect the identities of the transactions]
It is therefore legitimate to ask why millions of dollars in payments went
through this company owned by Low in order to fund the purchases of
diamonds and other jewels by Rosmah?
Coutts Bank
Butambas Singapore account with RBS Coutts is
not the only connection between Jho Low and
this private bank, regarded as one of the most
exclusive in Britain.
Coloured diamonds,
favoured by Asias nouveau
riche, is where the money is
The Chairman of the bank is the son of a former

Prime Minister, Earl Hume and its most famous
customer is the Queen.
Earl Hume is also Patron of the British Malaysia Society, which seeks to
build relationships between the business elites of both countries.
It was Coutts Banks Zurich branch in Switzerland, which controversially
provided an account for another Jho Low company named Good Star,
which accepted a USD700 million payment from 1MDB at very short
notice on October 2nd 2009.
Evidence from the PetroSaudi data base, acquired by Sarawak Report and
others from their former executive Xavier Justo, shows that PetroSaudi
Director Patrick Mahony had lied to 1MDBs legal team that Good Star
belonged to PetroSaudi, when in fact it was controlled by Jho Low.
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Large pearl Rosmahs jewellery has raised eyebrows
As Sarawak Report revealed in March, the youthful Low enjoyed an

unofficial and secretive but extremely powerful position at 1MDB, as it
was understood he was the representative of the Prime Minister and
Finance Minister, who it has emerged had himself secretly obtained total
authority over all spending and investments, as the sole shareholder and
signatory of 1MDB.
Emails show that there was concern expressed by compliance staff at
Coutts about who the beneficial owner of Good Star was on the day of the
transaction on October 2nd 2009.
Yet, what would normally be regarded as a suspiciously large transaction
was nevertheless completed in a matter of a few hours on that day.
The following year some USD530 million was then transferred on from
the Good Star account at Coutts Zurich to an account beneficially owed
by Jho Low at BSIs Singapore Branch.
Jho Lows BSI accounts are now being investigated by the Singapore
authorities as part of the wider investigation into the missing billions
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from 1MDB.
The Mirpuris
A number of insiders have identified this Singapore couple as the key
intermediaries for Rosmahs shopping therapy.
The fashion designer became part of Rosmahs entourage around 2006,
insiders say, and was extremely ingratiating. She started to replace
Deepak and other intermediaries with retailers for Rosmah and has
controlled the First Ladys purchases for the past six years.
Jewellers have complained to Sarawak Report that the situation has
disadvantaged them because the Mirpuris demand commission, or they
will not make the introduction to this lucrative client.
The normal commission for white diamonds is about 2-3%, but
Rosmah likes fancy diamonds [coloured]. Normally, an agent
can hope for up to 10% for fancy diamonds, but the Mirpuris are
demanding 20-30%, a business insider told Sarawak Report.
Payments from Jho Low are obtained in dribs and drabs, usually through
the Mirpuris.
However, one creditor told Sarawak Report that in one case the balance
was settled directly in cash that Jho Low paid into their colleagues Hong
Kong account through Coutts Singapore:
It was two lots of USD500,000. The bank accepted the cash
straight into the account. No inward remittance untraceable
cos cash.
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It has been observed that the Mirpuris, who appear to have no other
occupation beyond servicing Rosmah, have become prosperous in recent
years.
All the negotiations are done through them, not Jho Low. Its like
you cant go direct to her, because if you do bad things will
happen to you and you arent going to get paid They are the
people right now between the payment and the jewellers
remarked one.
Shopping therapy and Jho Lows family connection

Rosmahs propensity to buy large has got out of control in recent years,
particularly since she became First Lady, members of her entourage and
sellers have confirmed to Sarawak Report.
People say Rosmah finds buying her therapy, this is her
happiness let it go. But, she went crazy, overboard.. Its very easy
to charge US$20 million for a pink diamond $20 million, $30
million, $40 million, so its not hard to spend explains one.
However, the system of payments through third parties creates major
problems say jewellers.
Most sales take place at her own residence where jewellers fly in from all
over the world to hawk their wares. If the transaction is small i.e. less
than a million dollars, according to one trader, then the payment is fixed
on the spot.
She has this aluminium cupboard that stretches the entire wall of
one room and it is full of cash, all lined up in different
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denominations and amounts

However, the larger sums are less easy to settle and can involve several
payments over many months.
There is no up front, no one-time, nothing. Everything is spread
out like over 6 months. There is no one-time payment made to one
company theres always payments made in maybe 5 batches or
6 batches, spread out over the year. This is why its quite open in
the industry that a lot of people dont want to do deals with her
because it is very risky.. the margins are very high, but their risk
is even higher
Rosmah is also known to be temperamental, say jewellers.
In one case a prominent Malaysian
jeweller, who was driven to ask for a
delayed payment had all the purchased
articles thrown back at him, following
which he was expelled from the house
sale cancelled.
Purchases of less than a million can be

settled at home in cash say jewellers.
Jho Lows involvement in the process

comes from his trusted position as a
longstanding family friend, introduced
by Rosmahs son Riza who he met
abroad while at school in the UK and
then the US.

The Warton business school graduate has boasted in the past how he
started his company Wynton Capital while still in college with a few
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million and he was taking a pivotal role as a trusted advisor, helping the
family with their finances from his twenties say people who know the
couple well.
The question remains as to why the couple have so much money for Jho
Low to assist in spending and apparently managing?
As numerous observers have pointed out neither inherited money of this
magnitude and Najib has been a politician earning an MPs and
ministerial salary since his early twenties he joined parliament at the
age of 23.
Responses on this subject in recent months have ranged from
inheritance, to the expected wealth of people in high positions to wealth
from a newly acquired son in law.
However, Jho Lows activities as a prominent investor linked to many of
Malaysias public projects from a very tender age now clearly deserve
explaining. Why is he paying for Rosmahs jewels and where did this
money come from?
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How Jho Low Pays for Rosmah's Shopping Sprees - EXPOSE!

How Jho Low Pays for Rosmah's Shopping

Fancy coloured diamonds from New Yorks Louis Glick

are a particular favourite of Rosmahs

Sarawak Report has continued its enquiries into Rosmah Mansors

Currently, the intermediary is confirmed to be the

Haresh Mirpuri now seen

A further payment also of a million US dollars was directly made to an

Butamba Investments Limited

Not to be confused with Deepak Jaikishan Jho Lows company

Butamba transferred money to pay these jewellers in Jakarta

Colours attract the magpie

As per conversation with Jho Low he has informed he will do the

I wish to confirm USDxxx,xxx is Ok. You should receive it late

The Chairman of the bank is the son of a former

Large pearl Rosmahs jewellery has raised eyebrows

As Sarawak Report revealed in March, the youthful Low enjoyed an

Shopping therapy and Jho Lows family connection

denominations and amounts

Purchases of less than a million can be

Jho Lows involvement in the process

then the US.

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