American rapper, DJ and record producer Kasseem D Dean, known by his stage name Swizz Beatz, is being sued by independent financial investigators in the British Virgin Islands in attempts to recover $7.3 million. Photo: Getty Images

Malaysian businessman turned international fugitive Lo Low Taek Jho, also known as Jho Low, is being sought by authorities in connection with the 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal and an alleged $7.65 billion scam. Photo: Internet Source

Malaysian businessman turned international fugitive Lo Low Taek Jho, also known as Jho Low and former Malaysian prime minister, Mohb Najib bin Hj Abdul Razak Najib, founded 1MDB. The duo created multiple shell companies overseas including the BVI when international investigators started inquiries. Photo: Internet Source

Former Malaysian prime minister, Mohb Najib bin Hj Abdul Razak Najib was convicted in 2020 for illegally receiving $9.4 million. Photo: Internet Source

According to online records, the suit filed against Swiz Beatz is in attempts to recover $7.3 million they claim he accepted from international fugitive Low Taek Jho, also known as Jho Low, who is being sought by authorities.

Low is a Malaysian businessman turned international fugitive, who is wanted by authorities in connection with the 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal and an alleged $7.65 billion scam.

Suit filed in October

The suit was filed in the Southern District of New York, where Swizz Beatz has his bank account, on October 2, 2024. It alleges Low and associate Eric Tan illegally funnelled money from the Malaysian investment firm 1 Malaysia Development Berhad, known as 1MDB, to various shell companies. Two such companies were Affinity Equity International Partners Limited and Alsen Chance Holdings Limited, which existed only on paper in Tortola, according to court records.

The news was first reported by offshorealert.com just two days after the suit was filed on October 4, 2024.  According to the suit, from 2010 Low began socializing with celebrities, throwing lavish parties, hosting luxury group vacations, and financing Hollywood films.  Some of Low’s new friends included Swizz Beatz and his wife Alicia Keys.

It alleges that from September 2012 to September 2014, Alsen Chance sent Dean and companies under his control eight transfers totalling $7.3 million without anything in return, according to court records. The first transfer, on September21, 2012, to Swizz Beatz Productions Inc., included the note “Alsen Chance investment in music production (Everyday is your Birthday).” Swizz Beatz published the song Everyday Birthday in November 2012.

Former Malaysian PM convicted

Low and Malaysia’s then-prime minister, Mohb Najib bin Hj Abdul Razak Najib, founded 1MDB as an investment house to build national wealth for the Malaysian people, becoming a federal entity under the Malaysian Ministry of Finance, controlled by Najib in September 2009, according to court records.

When international investigators started their own inquiries, Low and Najib created multiple shell companies in the BVI, Barbados, and elsewhere to hide misappropriated funds, according to court records.

In 2015, when 1MDB started missing bond payments, Low and Tan disappeared. More than nine years later, their whereabouts are still unknown to authorities.

Najib was arrested in 2018 for illegally receiving $9.4 million, convicted in 2020, sentenced to 12 years in prison, and had the conviction upheld by an appeals court in 2022. The sentence was cut to six years in February.

VI Officials want funds recovered

The 1MDB-related shell companies were ordered closed by BVI officials and liquidators were appointed to attempt to recover funds. The liquidators, Angela Barkhouse and Toni Shukla, said in the suit they sent correspondence to Dean and his companies, Swizz Beatz Productions and Monza Studios, Inc., in September asking for explanations of the $7.3 million payments but received no response.

The suit also alleges Dean and companies intentionally engaged in fraud and unjustly enriched themselves.

A jury trial has been requested.