Documentary in the works about 1MDB businessman-turned-fugitive Jho Low

Jho Low, the businessman-turned-fugitive behind Malaysia’s 1MDB finance scandal, is the subject of a feature documentary now in the works.

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Per a Deadline report, the documentary – titled Man on the Run – began production in London this week. The feature will chronicle Low’s childhood in Penang, Malaysia, and his education at London’s Harrow School and the United States’ Wharton School of Business, leading up to the 1MDB scandal.

Director Cassius Michael Kim (The Wonder List with Bill Weir) is helming the upcoming documentary. In a statement to Deadline, Kim said that the film will be “the definitive accounting of this sage as well as the indictment of the global capitalist system and its inability to regulate itself in the face of avarice and corruption”.

This is the second production about Low and 1MDB to be unveiled in recent months. It was announced in November 2021 that Beau Willimon, the creator of House of Cards, is helming a television series about Low and the 1MDB scandal, with Michelle Yeoh producing. The “a tale of financial greed and deceit, and a darkly comedic social satire”, as touted by its executive producers, is based on 2018 non-fiction book Billion Dollar Whale: The Man Who Fooled Wall Street, Hollywood, and the World.

Man on the Run is set to feature original reporting as well as fresh interviews with new sources for the first time. It will also reportedly shoot in Singapore, Los Angeles, New York, Washington, Kuala Lumpur and Penang. Singapore, the US and Malaysia are currently running investigations on Low, as are Luxembourg and Switzerland.

The 1MDB scandal – one of the biggest cases of financial fraud in history – centers on a state-owned investment fund initiated by former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak in 2009. He was jailed in 2020 for absorbing US$756million from the fund into his personal bank accounts.

Low is alleged to be the mastermind behind the financial scandal, despite never holding an official position in the company. Low also allegedly used some of the money he stole to fund Martin Scorsese’s 2013 film The Wolf of Wall Street. A new Bloomberg report suggests that Low pocketed US$1.42billion from the scandal.

The scandal saw the swindling of approximately US$6.5billion collectively among Low, Najib Razak and other alleged partners. Low has since been on the run and is believed to be residing in Macau while he evades international authorities.

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