US charges Malaysian financier in money laundering scheme

The US Justice Department on Thursday charged a fugitive Malaysian financier in a money laundering and bribery scheme that pilfered billions of dollars from a Malaysian investment fund created to promote economic development projects in that country.

The three-count indictment charges Low Taek Jho, who is also known as Jho Low, of misappropriating money from the state-owned fund and using it to bribe foreign officials and to pay for luxury real estate, art and jewelry in the US and to fund Hollywood movies, including "The Wolf of Wall Street."