Will Pakatan offer Jho Low immunity in exchange for his cooperation?

(TMI) – By all accounts, discussions between 1MDB investigators and Malaysia’s most wanted man, Low Taek Jho, have begun.

The fugitive financier is a key player in the scandal of the decade ‎and will be a critical witness in not only sending Najib Razak to jail but also helping the Mahathir administration recover billions in cash and assets.

But here is the government’s dilemma: just how much should it yield to reach a deal with Najib’s confidant?

Will Pakatan Harapan offer the chubby businessman immunity in exchange for his cooperation? Or will he be offered a lighter sentence in return for connecting the dots and filling in the blanks in the case of the 1MDB heist?

Ideally, Low should be extradited from his current home in Dubai to face the consequences of his actions

Ideally, he should face his day of reckoning in the country of his birth and where thecrime was hatched.

Ideally, the Pakatan Harapan government would love to make good on its promise to make every architect and engineer of the scheme to defraud 1MDB feel the full force of the law.

But this is not an ideal situation.‎

Low is ensconced in Dubai, apparently under the protection of powerful stakeholders.

Before that, he was living in Shanghai and other places in China, apparently under the protection of Beijing.

The Wall Street Journal also reported he was spotted in Phuket, Thailand. He was also sighted in Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan‎ and Abu Dhabi over the past three years.

For all the international notices and Interpol red alerts, the simple fact is that Low has been enjoying freedom of passage and abode in several countries. This suggests that several countries are giving him air cover.

Malaysian investigators believe the high level of protection accorded to Low could be tied to certain Middle East personalities involved in the 1MDB scandal. In short, it does not benefit these individuals to have Low apprehended by the law enforcers.

Against this backdrop, it may not be easy getting him back to Malaysia.

The fact that ‎Malaysian investigators have started talking to Low suggests that:

1. There could be gaps in the case they are building against Najib.

2. They believe he can help them identify and repatriate funds and assets bought with money embezzled from 1MDB.

But ‎the MACC and the 1MDB task force also know Malaysians expect to see some form of punishment for the main players in the scandal that has brought shame to the country.

Any deal for Low would be a tough sell.

It all comes down to this: can the Malaysian government make the case against Najib Razak and recover the loot without the fugitive?