Put a larcenous soul together with high-speed technology, enablers such as chiefs of state, investment bankers and auditors, and a sovereign wealth fund ripe for the picking and you have the combustible mix that led to the rip-off extraordinaire saga of Malaysian entrepreneur Jho Low, chronicled in juicy detail in a new book by Wall Street Journal reporters Tom Wright and Bradley Hope.

In Billion Dollar Whale, authors Wright and Hope, having spent three years researching the story, reviewing tens of thousands of documents, interviewing more than 100 people and traveling throughout Southeast Asia, present a mind-boggling picture of Low’s thievery, grandiose spending and disappearance.

The numbers and the impact of the scam induce awe: $4.5 billion allegedly stolen from the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund, 1MDB, by Low and his conspirators, generating $600 million in revenue and fees for Goldman Sachs, whose employee Tim Leissner, the lead coverage banker for Goldman Sachs handling 1MDB business, was charged by United States and Malaysian prosecutors with bribery and money laundering. Leissner pleaded guilty to the charges and is due to be sentenced this month.
 
In May, federal prosecutors accused the on-the-run Low (otherwise known as Low Taek Jho) of transferring more than $21 million to the rap singer Pras, who allegedly gave $865,000 to straw donors who used it to make campaign contributions to a candidate identified as Candidate A (former president Barack Obama).
 
Low’s expenditures, most seized by the government, included a $250 million yacht; luxury estates and apartments in New York, Los Angeles and abroad valued at nearly $100 million; about $200 million in paintings; plus jewelry, art and gifts to celebrities and models (including Leonardo DiCaprio, who partied with Low over a five-year period) of $21 million.
 
Then there is this stunning nugget:

Low’s closest conspirator was Malaysia’s former prime minister, Najib Razak (currently on trial for his misdeeds). Shortly after Razak lost re-election in 2018, police raided Kuala Lumpur apartments owned by the Najib family; they found $274 million worth of items, including jewelry, handbags, watches and $28 million in cash. Ultimately, Najib had received $681 million in kickbacks, gifts and laundered money.
  
Low, “a silver tongued con man,’’ the authors write, owed his success to charm, cunning and “the failures of the 21st century global economy. His ability to take so much, fooling Wall Street banks, auditors and regulators; his success in using untold wealth to buy his way into friendships with the world’s most famous actors and models; and the ease with which he made everyone believe he belonged. Low was the product of a society preoccupied with wealth and glamor,’’ they write.
 
All of this came by way of robbing the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund, 1MDB, formed in 2009 and according to New York court documents, “created to pursue investment and development projects for the economic benefit of Malaysia and its people, primarily relying on debt to fund these investments. 1MDB's development projects were focused in the areas of energy, real estate, tourism and agribusiness. 1MDB was overseen by senior Malaysian government officials, (and) was controlled by the Malaysian government.’’
 
As the writers describe Low’s thievery, “Billions of dollars in Malaysian government money, raised with the help of Goldman Sachs, has disappeared into a byzantine labyrinth of bank accounts, offshore companies and other complex financial structures.
 
“Low’s story epitomizes the shocking power of those who learn how to master the levers of international finance in the 21st century. How he thrived, and what it says about the failure of global capitalism, is the subject of this book.’’
 
The effect on Malaysia was dire: “Moody’s estimated the government would be on the hook to repay about $7.5 billion of the fund’s debt, a sum equivalent to 2.5 percent of Malaysia’s economy.’’
 
Wright and Hope theorize that fugitive Low is living on a fortune hidden in offshore accounts. According to a May 31, 2019 story in the Malaysian news site, The Star Online, Malaysian authorities are said to be nearing capture of Low, thought to be living in China.
 
Low’s largesse toward DiCaprio included giving him the stolen Academy Award won by Marlon Brando for the 1954 film, “On the Waterfront.’’ Low also spent $100 million of stolen money to finance DeCaprio’s 2013 movie, The Wolf of Wall Street. If a movie were to be made of Low’s global theft and disappearance, it might have been called Catch Me If You Can, except that DiCaprio already starred in that film, in 2002.

Billion Dollar Whale, by Tom Wright and Bradley Hope. 379 pages. $28. Hachette Books.

Eleanor O’Sullivan is an award-winning journalist who writes for Financial Advisor.