BANGKOK, July 25 — Malaysian fugitive businessman Teow Wooi Huat is still under Thai Immigration custody and is waiting to be deported to China.
“He is expected to be deported to China soon,” a police source told Bernama but did not want to divulge details on when Teow will be deported.
However, local Thai media reported that Teow will be deported to China tomorrow (Tuesday).
Last Friday, Teow who is on the Interpol Red Notice list, was called in by the police to be informed that his visa has been revoked.
He was then handed over to the Immigration police in Songkhla and later transferred to Suan Plu Immigration Office in Bangkok.
The 55-year-old Teow, founder of MBI Group International, and dubbed as Jho Low 2, in reference to another Malaysian fugitive businessman, Low Taek Jho, linked to the 1MDB scandal, had fled to Dannok in Sadao in 2020.
Teow founded the MBI Group and operated entertainment complexes, including a resort in Danok at the Thailand-Malaysia border, and also built a business empire from dubious online investment schemes that attracted investors from China, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Macau.
In 2017, Teow was arrested by Malaysian authorities on drug charges but he bolted to Thailand and escaped the death penalty.
In 2019, Malaysian authorities froze 91 bank accounts totalling RM177 million linked to MBI Group International then. Bank Negara had listed it as a company running a dubious financial scheme.
He is wanted in connection with a 336-million-ringgit (US$83 million) money-laundering scam in Macau.
Meanwhile, in Kuala Lumpur the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) have confirmed that Teow is currently under the custody of Thai authorities.
PDRM secretary Datuk Noorsiah Mohd Saaduddin said the suspect is being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating.
“The PDRM is in the process of applying for the individual to be repatriated to Malaysia to assist in investigations,” she said in a statement tonight.
— Bernama
