US consultant charged with covert lobbying for Jho Low over 1MDB probe
- Prosecutors say Nickie Lum Davis was also involved in bid to arrange return of Chinese dissident living in US
- Dissident not named, though charging documents refer to news article about exiled tycoon Guo Wengui
Federal prosecutors say Nickie Lum Davis failed to disclose to the federal government that the lobbying effort was done on behalf of a fugitive Malaysian financier who has been charged in the US with conspiring to launder billions of dollars from the fund.
The Foreign Agents Registration Act requires individuals who are enlisted by foreign entities to lobby the US government to register that work with the Justice Department. A criminal case filed in federal court in Honolulu charges Davis with a single count of violating that act, known as FARA.
A lawyer who has represented Davis did not return an email and phone message seeking comment. The US Attorney’s office in Hawaii declined to comment.
The charge is the latest development arising from the complicated saga of 1MDB, a Malaysian wealth fund that was established more than a decade ago to accelerate the country’s economic development but that prosecutors say was actually treated as a piggy bank by associates of former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak.
