The statement said he died on Monday at a hospital from complications after a “sudden massive stroke”.
“We urge all parties not to entertain any speculation on this unfortunate event and allow the family the space to grieve on his passing,” it said.
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Kee was reportedly deported from Macau on May 3, on grounds of overstaying his visa. It is unclear when he left the city.
He was then detained by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) for questioning before being released without being charged with any offence, according to several Malaysian newspapers and online news sites.
Malaysia believes Low is hiding in Macau, along with others wanted in the 1MDB scandal, according to a Bloomberg report on Tuesday.
It is ramping up efforts to bring Low back to Malaysia, following a March visit by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to Beijing, where he met Chinese President Xi Jinping. Observers say a high-profile 1MDB-linked arrest – such as Low’s – would play well at home as a big win for Anwar’s corruption-busting agenda.
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Investigative journalist Bradley Hope, who runs the ‘Whale Hunting’ crowdsourcing project to detect Low’s whereabouts, believes Low remains under house arrest in Shanghai.
Jho Low, the alleged mastermind behind the 1MDB scandal is reportedly in Macau. Photo: SCMP
“Jho Low was in Macau a lot from 2015 to 2018, as well as Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Thailand, but after Najib’s electoral defeat, his movements were more restricted to the mainland,” Hope said on Twitter on Tuesday.
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Kee’s name surfaced several times in court testimonies. In 2019, he was named as a respondent in a civil forfeiture case after 1.52 million ringgit (US$330,000) from his bank accounts in May that year, part of an anti-money-laundering sting on individuals linked to the 1MDB scandal.
Court officials, however, informed the Kuala Lumpur High Court that they were not able to serve him notice, saying he was not in the country.
According to sworn testimony in court by Joanna Yu, a former relationship manager at AmBank who was in charge of Najib’s account, Kee frequently visited Low’s flat in Kuala Lumpur.